The Chaos Wars, part II
by Subieko
Summary: Our heroes rest from war in another World, but trouble finds them. A group of mysterious beings want to talk to Yuugi at any cost...but are they trying to help or harm?
1. Nightmares

**Section II**

Author's note: first of all, if you're reading this, thank you.  Secondly, this isn't exactly a sequel--more like a continuation.  The new section continues from the last one, but it's a whole new part of the story--like a new season or something.  If the last section confused you because there were so many new characters and places, or because you don't know anything about Pokemon, don't worry--this section may be less confusing, or at least better explained (I hope!).  Also, if the amount of deaths in the last section bothered you, don't worry--there are no deaths in this section, although I think some of the flashbacks are pretty creepy.  If there's anything that's not well explained or confusing, please tell me so I can clarify.  Also, Serafinamoon pointed out to me in the last section that the actual Japanese-version spelling of Yugi's last name isn't "Moto," it's "Mutou."  At the time, I was undecided about which way I wanted to spell it (and I didn't feel like going back and reloading all of the chapters because it would have taken so long with my PC), but now, I've decided to go with the Japanese version.  ^__^;;   Also, to Serafinamoon: yes, their weapons _would_ have been taken ordinarily, but the Clanners hadn't been searched--they were just captured right then.  Also, Chaos rarely strips or searches their prisons with any level of consistency--too many of them aren't human enough to use weapons, and too many searchers don't need clothing, so they don't know about pockets.  As to how Vice escaped, let's just say that the Last of Ancients isn't called that for nothing--he's among the most powerfully magical people in the Multiverse, although he doesn't like to use it too much.  Thanks for the review!  Thanks to everyone, and enjoy the new section!

Chapter 1--Nightmares

                Everything is dark and silent on this night.  This is not the darkness of former Akarana, now Dark World, whose dying stars and blood-covered streets are the silence of death.  This not P'korum, more commonly the Pokemon World, whose nights are filled with trainers eager to train and capture nocturnal Pokemon.  This is a World with no official name, a World that has no knowledge of other Worlds, and this night is filled only with commuters returning home late and sleeping children wishing they did not have to wake up early for school the next day.  No one here knows that in other Worlds, the night is filled with danger or with joy.  No one here knows that other Worlds exist.

Well, almost no one.

                In one city of this World, there are other occupants of this night.  These few know of those other twilights, filled with shadows and suspicion, or with quests and weary searchers.  They know that they are not alone, that with only a Gating device there are other Worlds.  They know that in the vastness of the Multiverse, there is both great evil and great good.

One of them is hunted by a great army, the most evil army in many life-times.

                This one that the Overlord fears is also asleep, just like anyone else in this World.  Nothing seems to be amiss here.  Nothing seems to be wrong.  This is a peaceful World; there is no terror here.

Far away, in a place that is not a World, something is stirring.  Eyes are watching, far away.  This place has neither night nor day; there is no darkness and no light.  There are only whispers to fill this almost-place, whispers about this World, whispers about this one.

_Master said--_

_This one?_

_Master watched._

_Not this one?  
That one?  Sure?_

_She said--_

_Master SAID._

_This one is?_

_This one..._

_One-Who-Is-Two._

_Two?_

_Master said!_

_What is it?  
See?_

_Master said that one--_

_Two?_

_Sure?  
Yes!  Master knows!_

_What's going on?_

_Looked into the Void--_

_Not hurt?_

_Because that one is special!  
Only we can--_

_But then--_

_It's true!  If this one looked--_

_But the Void is--_

_Are sure?_

_Sure!_

_If it's true--_

_If Master said, it must be..._

_Then, if the Void didn't hurt--_

_Then we--_

_But that's out there.  We don't go out there._

_Don't have to.  Come HERE._

_Can?_

_Can!  
Sure?_

_True?_

_Sure!  True!  Master said!_

_Master said--must be true._

_Then, sure._

_So?  _

_Think so too?_

_Don't know...guess so..._

_If sure--_

_Then yes.  Let's go.  We can, it's true!_

_....outside?_

_No outside.  Nothing outside._

_But this one--_

_Nothing important outside._

_...then..._

_Yes.  We can talk.  Let's just look!_

_Look..._

_It won't hurt.  If it's true--_

_Maybe we should--_

_Just look?_

_Yes!_

_Well..._

_Guess so..._

_Yes..._

_Maybe right..._

_Then let's!_

                Their voices are barely whispers; they are more excited than they have been in a long, long time.  Few know that they exist; they certainly don't.  They have no ability to care about anything; everything that there is, they are only mildly interested in.  It is unusual for them to be so excited, but they have not heard something like this for as long as they can remember, although of course they cannot remember at all.  They are watching the one that the Overlord hates so much, although they do not know it.  This one that they are watching does not know either.  No one but they would know that there is anything special about this one at a glance.  A casual observer of this World might not give this one even a glance, but if they did, perhaps they would notice something unusual about him.  Not special, exactly, but strange.  Maybe they would first notice how short he was.  Perhaps if they watched for long enough they would also notice that he talked to himself a lot--and had actual conversations, complete with pauses in which, one could only assume, he was waiting for himself to reply.  At this point, most observers would write him off as crazy, and get away from him as fast as possible.

Luckily, not many people observe him that carefully.

                This one is Yugi, and he is anything but ordinary.  He has returned only recently from a quest in another World, and not his first.  Only a very few people in his World know this; they are fellow members of the Sacred Trust, the secret that there are other Worlds.  Yugi would consider them to be his friends; most of them would agree.

These others are not being watched.

                Yugi is the only one of interest to them; they others are ordinary Outsiders, as they call them.  And right now, this completely not-ordinary child, watched and searched for by so many people, is not thinking about the Overlord or the war he has been drawn into or the people he knows nothing about who observe him now.  Right now, Yugi is having a very, very strange dream.

*dream sequence*

Everything was shadowy and vague; nothing was definite.  This place bore an eerie resemblance to the Shadowrealm, although they were not connected in any way.  Like most dreams, it was highly illogical, but this didn't bother the dreamer in question at all.  In his dream, Yugi was standing in the middle of this bizarre, featureless land.  Because it was a dream, this did not seem strange; what happened next did.

In front of him, a person walked out of the mist.  Yugi recognized this new arrival as Farran-Dak, his Clanner friend from the Shadow War.  Yugi stared at him as though seeing a ghost, probably because he thought he was.

Yugi had watched Farran get decapitated by a mounted enemy, who had then struck Yugi and ridden off.  There was no way Farran could have lived; his body had been brought back to his parents in two pieces.  It was only a dream, but of course Yugi could not know this.  Farran watched him silently.  After a time, he spoke.

"Yugi...don't you remember me?"

"But...you died.  You're _dead_.  You...you can't be here...this is impossible..."

Farran glared at him coldly.

"You're right, Yugi.  It _is_ impossible, but it didn't have to be, did it?  Don't you remember what happened to me, Yugi?  He was aiming for you, Yugi!  I saved your life--I pushed you out of the way!  I didn't have to die that day, Yugi; you killed me!"

And because it was a dream, Yugi did indeed remember that day, almost a year ago...

*flashback*

Everything was dark; the sun was fading, and it was shrouded even in day time.  This was Dark World, where light and life is always scarce.  People were yelling and screaming--metal rang on metal as the Darklings battled for their survival against the Shadow Master's armies.  Yugi and his friends had been pulled into this World by Benjamin's need, and now they were fighting a war.  Yugi didn't know where the others were; they had all been separated.  He was traveling with Farran, one of the rare Clanners living in Dark World.  Yugi had never been in a battle before; he didn't really understand this one.  Farran was more experienced in the arts of war, but he was not invincible.  Looking up, he saw the rider--or was it horse and man in one?--charge forward, bearing an axe. Farran didn't stop to think.  He shoved Yugi out of the way, but the force of his push put him in the path of the blade. 

_Swish._

Yugi stared at Farran's body in shock.  He had never seen anyone die before, and he had certainly never seen anyone's body lying in one place and their head in another.  He didn't notice the rider raise a dart gun and fire at him.  Struck by a poisoned arrow, Yugi collapsed and saw no more.

*end flashback*

Yugi looked at Farran, apparently returned from death, wretchedly.

"I never meant to kill you...I never wanted you to die..."

"I still died, Yugi!  You should have been killed that day, not me!  This is your fault; if you hadn't been there, I wouldn't have died!  You killed me, Yugi--you!"

He faded into the shadows, but before Yugi had time to think about it, another familiar figure stepped forward.  Yugi stared at him uncomprehendingly.  The well-dressed man raised an eyebrow.

"What's this?  Forgotten me all ready, Yugi?  Goodness, I thought I made more of an impression on you than that."

Yugi shrank back in fear.

"Atrius..."

The man smiled.

"Ah, so you _do_ remember!  I'm quite glad; I wouldn't like to imagine that my death was wasted.  Don't tell me you've forgotten that too?  Come now, try to remember--it wasn't so long ago."

Yugi didn't need to try for his memory to be clear--he hadn't forgotten that day yet...

*flashback*

Yugi stepped backward.  He hadn't known that there were no humans in Dark World; he had seen no reason to suspect Atrius, the kindly old man wandering the plains with his band of nomads.  They had seemed so trustworthy, but now...

"Give up, you human worm.  It is hopeless to resist.  You've accompanied us all this time, thinking we were kind, generous humans traveling Dark World and helping poor, lost travelers like yourself--you idiot."  Atrius' voice was cold and harsh.  He sneered, gesturing to his band.  Their appearances changed subtly; they were no humans.  Fearfully, Yugi drew his small knife, wondering what he could possibly do against such powerful and numerous foes.  He was alone and outnumbered; there was no hope.

"Hah hah hah hah...so you'd rather die fighting?  Very well, very well...I would be happy to oblige!"

Atrius leaped forward, his curved scimitar ringing as he whipped it from its sheath.  His face and body changed horribly until he resembled some hideous monster, with glowing eyes and long, yellowed fangs, a scream of battle fury ripping from his throat as he attacked.  At this moment, however, unexpected help arrived.  Vice and Yugi's friends, having tracked him down through a dream from one of the more magically empathetic of their number, had come to help him.  Vice drew two knives, a tornado of attacks in warrior form.  Even for him, however, the numbers were very great.  While he was distracted, Atrius rushed toward Yugi, blade raised.  Yugi threw up his hands to protect himself, not knowing that he still held his only weapon.  Atrius, grown overconfident, tripped suddenly.  Stumbling forward, he fell on Yugi's upraised blade.  Blood spewed from his open mouth as he pulled back shrieking, yanking Yugi's knife from his hands.  The blade was thrust deep into his chest, but as he gasped his final breaths, he hacked, "You...will not...live!" and, with a final mighty effort, slashed his blade across Yugi's throat.  Yugi, unable to breath, collapsed as in the battle where Farran had died, and knew not how he survived with only a scar on his throat to bear witness.

*end flashback*

Atrius grinned wickedly at him, and just as in their last battle, his face changed hideously, until he became a demonic beast screaming his fury at Yugi.

"You see what you did to me?  YOU SEE!?  I didn't have to die that day!  I should have lived and you should have died!  I as good as killed you, but you survived!  You cheated me--made my death pointless!  You think I am monster?  You are the beast, not me!"

"But--I never wanted to kill you!  I didn't mean to kill you--I didn't mean for you to die!"

But Atrius too faded into the mist of this eerie place, and one last figure appeared.  It was Shi-kai-dek, Aria, former Chieftenn of the Highwind Clann, who died fighting the Lieutenant to save Yugi.

"We meet again, Yugi.  Are you so surprised to see me?  We Clanners are an honorable people--you betrayed us.  You murdered me and my Clann.  We were once prosperous, and though we had diminished, still we survived, until you came.  My Clann is dying now; those who are left.  We aided you, and you brought us only death.  I know that you remember, Yugi.  Think back..."

*flashback*

...the Lieutenant of Chaos had finally arrived.  Knowing of his target, he attacked Yugi ferociously.  Unable to match Lieutenant Gash's swordplay, he was knocked backwards, his dagger torn from his grasp.  Yugi closed his eyes.  This was the end.  The Lieutenant's cry of pain and surprise brought him back to reality.  Shi-kai-dek, brave Clanner Chieftenn, had come to Yugi's rescue...

  Much time later, Yugi woke up.  Everything was frighteningly still and silent.  Death rode on the wind, and all around, bodies lay, their faces in the grotesque mask of death.  Stumbling through the carnage, Yugi found Shi-kai-dek.  Facing the far more powerful Lieutenant, Shi-kai-dek had not been afraid to meet her death for another's sake.  Now, she took her last breaths.  Smiling faintly, she spoke in a halting whisper.  "So...they didn't...find you...Yugi.... they're still...looking.  You...have to run.  If they find you...all of us...in trouble...hurry...get out of here...."  Kneeling, Yugi said, "Why did you do it?  You knew that Gash would win...he was much stronger than you..." Shi-kai-dek tried and failed to sit up.  Coughing blood, she stammered, "Had to...you were...in trouble.  Clanners...very honorable.  Always...help a friend.  Yugi...this is the end for me.  Do not forget us...any of us.  We...fought as best as we could.  The Clanners...will remember this battle...if...any survive."  The dying Chieftenn of the Highwind Clann struggled to keep breathing.  "Shi-kai-dek, you can't die...you have to hang on..." Shi-kai-dek turned her head slightly.  "Yugi...you humans...always trying to escape the inevitable.  Nothing...we can do now.  Save your tears...Yugi...we died with honor.  More than some...can say..." Yugi was silent.  Shi-kai-dek's eyes grew dim.  "Yugi...my name...not Shi-kai-dek.  My Truename...it is....Aria................."  Shi-kai-dek, Aria, the leader of the Clann of the Spirit of the Falcon, closed her eyes for the last time.  A cold, bitter wind shrieked past on that lonely mountain plateau as, all alone among the dead, Yugi Mutou cried.

                                This was how Chaos found him some time later, after the massacre of Nightmare Clann.  Yugi offered no  resistance as they bound his hands and Gated out.

*end flashback*

Yugi remembered this battle most clearly--it was the only one of the three in which he had not been knocked out at the end.  It was also the most recent; his frightening visitors had come in chronological order of their deaths.  Shi-kai-dek gazed coolly at him.

"You see?  We did not need to help you.  You came to us for help; we did not need to aid you.  You murdered us.  The Overlord attacked us only because of you.  It was your fault.  You are nothing but a killer, Yugi.  People whose names you do not even know have died for you, for the sake of your life.  You are as evil as the Overlord, your enemy.  Who are you to advocate non-violence?  You bring death with you wherever you go.  You are a murderer, and you deserve to die."

"But....I never wanted anyone to die...I didn't mean to kill them!  I didn't want them to die!"

Farran and Atrius came again, standing with Shi-kai-dek.

"You killed us, Yugi!  And not just us; you have killed countless people, and you will only kill more!  You cannot avoid it; you are a shadow of death for all those you meet."

"You _are_ in the wrong here, you know.  You killed me, and them, and who knows how many others?  Why did we deserve to die, Yugi?  Bit judgmental, don't you think?"  Here his form changed to demonic proportions.  "You murderer!  You killed me--I was supposed to go far!  I was going to live, you don't deserve all these lucky escapes!"

"You killed us all, Yugi.  You brought death down on many who would otherwise have avoided its eye for one more day.  You are the guilty one!"

Yugi completely lost it at this point, as would almost anyone dreaming about dead people accusing them of murder.

"I'm sorry!  I didn't mean to kill you!  _I'm sorry_!"

*end dream sequence*

At this point, Yugi's not-quite-cat, Alleybones, sensed that something was wrong with her human friend.  Padding over, she jumped on Yugi's stomach, causing him to cough and sit up.  Sitting in the darkness, the memory of his chilling dream fresh in his mind, he took a deep breath.

"Just a dream.  Just a dream..."

Just a dream, Yugi thought--but was it?  Far away, other eyes were watching; who knew if they were friend or foe?

Author's note: I think that's sort of a cliff-hanger, right?  Oh, and before anyone asks why Yami isn't in here and/or didn't notice any of this even though Yugi's cat (well, not _exactly_ a cat) did, I can only say--even spirits have to sleep, or at least rest, at _some_ point!  Also before anyone asks: yes, I know that none of this is clearly explained.  It's supposed to be sort of mysterious; who are the unknown watchers, why is Yugi dreaming about dead people, etc.?  However, to clarify one point--the Farran/Atrius things (the original events, not the flashbacks) aren't in this fanfic.  Remember how I said in the Preface that a whole bunch of the early stuff is unrecorded, but may be alluded to?  Well, this is where one of the references is.  Another one is the Chaos Oracle and everyone else's continual references to a certain past betrayal (which I'm sure you're sick of hearing about, but it's important!).  And yes, I know I said no deaths, but these technically aren't deaths--all of these people are already dead.  These are just memories.  Also, I know two author's notes in one chapter is pretty rare for me, but it _is_ a new section.  One last thing: updates may be irregular for a while--we just got DSL and I can barely make it work at all, let alone upload.  Sorry if anything is late! Well, that's really all you need to know for this.  I hoped you liked the chapter!  ^____^

~Subieko


	2. Speakers for the Dead

Chapter 2--Speakers for the Dead

_Didn't hear?_

_Don't know..._

_Thought that we could--_

_Well, Master said!  So, thought!_

_But--_

_Try again?_

_This time hear._

_Sure?_

_Didn't work last time.  Sure this time?_

_Sure!  Lots sure!_

_So...try again?_

_Yes!_

_But...if he doesn't hear..._

_Keep trying.  Hear sometime.  Right?_

_Doesn't understand, maybe?_

_Talk more.  Now we looked, so we know.  We can talk._

_But..._

_If he doesn't understand, why?_

_Next time understand!_

_Sure?_

_Said that last time..._

_This time sure!_

_Very sure?_

_Very, very sure?_

_Very, very sure! All sure!_

_Well...._

_All right...this time, maybe?_

_Yes!  This time, see, hear, everything.  This time understand.  Sure!_

_.....okay...._

_All right.  This time....maybe..._

_Not maybe, sure!  Let's go!_

                Yugi spoke to no one of his bizarre dream; sometimes, pretending that something didn't happen can make it seem less real, less important.  In any case, it was only a dream to him; he couldn't think of it as anything else.  So he forgot about it for most of the day, except for feeling oddly tired.  It didn't seem so important in daylight.

Other eyes had not forgotten about him.

                Day passed in this World, and in many others.  They have been waiting, but it seems as nothing to them; they count neither hours nor days.  They are eager for the nightfall; they wish to understand, or rather for someone else to understand.  They have not spoken in a long, long time; they grow impatient to speak again.  They have not done such a thing in all their collective memories, for they think and feel as one, and it has been long since they thought or felt.

They are waiting.

                Yugi has no way of knowing that they are waiting, or even that they exist.  He can see and hear them, but without the knowledge that they are speaking, he cannot understand them.  They do not know this; it is long since they have spoken to an Outsider.  They are an odd people, having neither species nor age; they simply exist--or they used to.  They never cared about the Outside before, as far as they can remember (but they cannot remember anything), but they do now.  They have found one who can see them, hear them, speak to them, and they are excited, as they have not been in many long years of forgetfulness.

They are waiting, but not for much longer.

                Yugi doesn't know that they are waiting.  He doesn't know that they really don't mean any harm--they just can't understand the consequences of their actions.  They are innocent, or perhaps simply apathetic.

Their waiting is over now.

_Time?_

_Time--let's go!_

_Sure?  This time, sure?_

_Yes!  Now come!_

_This time, understand?_

_YES!_

_Okay..._

_Let's go..._

_Yes, let's go!_

*dream sequence*

                Again, Yugi stood in a featureless, empty landscape.  Everything was drab and vague, and an almost disinterested silence filled the air.  In dreams, one rarely knows that one is dreaming, but Yugi suddenly remembered his other dream, and felt a prickle of fear.  He knew what came next in this dream, and sure enough, there was Farran.  He turned to face Yugi.

"Hello, Yugi.  Why are you so shocked?  Aren't you glad to see me?  You said you were my friend--wasn't it true?"

At this point, Yugi lost most of the logic that would normally point out the fact that Farran was dead, so he _couldn't_ be talking, or that this was only a dream, and therefore not real.

"Well--of course you were my friend!  It's just...you're dead...you can't really be here..."

Farran looked troubled.  "Why did I die, Yugi?  We were friends--why didn't you help me?"

"Farran, I didn't want you to die!  I didn't mean for you to be killed...I didn't mean for that to happen..."

The Clanner child's face grew cold.  "You didn't mean for it to happen?  You didn't even try to help me!  You didn't stop them from killing me--you weren't much of a friend."

Even though, logically, there was nothing Yugi could have done to save Farran-dak's life, he felt incredibly guilty.

"I'm sorry, Farran...I _didn't_ help you....I failed you..."

"A whole lot of good 'sorry' does me--I still died, and it's all your fault."

He faded away, heedless to Yugi shouting after him.  But, before he could really think it through, Atrius appeared, just as last time.

"Ah...you seem to have been expecting me.  Oh?  Upset, are we?  You really shouldn't bother--I know you couldn't care less that I died by your blade."

"No--that isn't true!  I didn't mean to kill you!  I didn't mean to!"

Atrius smirked at him.  "Yes, and I'm sure those good intentions are among those that pave the road to hell--isn't that what you humans say?  You killed me, and nothing can change that.  You needn't apologize; it's still your fault, whether you're sorry or not."

"Atrius, I didn't mean to kill you!  I'm sorry!  I'm sorry!!!"

"Why should I care, you murderer?"  Atrius, like Farran, faded away after this parting blow.  Shi-kai-dek, the last death for Yugi's sake to date, returned as well.

"We meet again, Yugi.  You seem so sad--do you regret our deaths, now that it is too late?"

Yugi tried to put what was happening into logical terms.

"Shi-kai-dek, all of you are dead, and this is only a dream anyway!  How can you be real?  This _can't_ be real...can it?"

Shi-kai-dek shrugged noncommittally.  "We are as real as you, Yugi.  Only your physical body is in a state of sleep; your conscious mind remains active.  This is no dream...this is real."

"....but....how can that be?"

"It simply is, Yugi.  We are here, as are you; what further proof do you need?  You are in no position to demand answers, with the blood of my people staining your hands.  What right does a murderer have to an explanation?"

"But--no!  I didn't mean to kill you, Shi-kai-dek!  I didn't mean for you to die!  I'm sorry--I'm sorry...."

Shi-kai-dek looked at him coolly.  "Your words are empty; death is still death, however you may excuse it.  You are dead to me, Yugi; you are a disgrace to your people."

"...I never meant to kill anyone...I never wanted anyone to die...."

"You may not have wished death upon anyone, but you still brought it with you!  You are the one who deserved death, Yugi, and you still do.  You are nothing more than a killer, as evil as the foes you fled from.  You cannot escape from that truth, Yugi--you are nothing but a murderer."

"No!  I didn't mean to kill you!  I didn't mean to!  I'm sorry!  _I'm sorry_!!!"

*end dream sequence*

                Yugi's cat wasn't fast enough this time; he woke up screaming, still talking to a bunch of dead people.  Amazingly, Yugi's grandfather managed to sleep through this, but Yami was much more observant.  He was not in the best of moods for having been woken up at three o'clock in the morning, but we must give him credit for waking up at all.  

_....what is it?_

"Nothing...it was just a dream..."

_Thank you _so_ much for waking me up at __three o'clock__ in the morning for nothing._

"Yeah....sure..."

With that, Yugi fell asleep again.  

_...didn't understand!_

_Next time.  Keep trying!_

_Maybe believe in us next time?_

_Sure!_

_...always say sure.  NEVER sure!_

_Am sure!  Maybe this one's just slow?_

_...maybe..._

_Don't know--not working well._

_Next time, work!_

_....well...._

_Guess so..._

_Try, at least._

_Think he believe that we're real now?_

_Maybe--not sure._

_Try anyway?_

_Yes--understand more next time._

_Explain?_

_Yes!_

_...will that really work?_

_Guess so.  Not sure.  Never done this before._

_Try, at least.  Will try._

_Worth it to try.  Try lots!_

_Yes--needs to see!_

_.....okay._

_Come too._

_Also come._

_Good--we'll try again!_

They are still out there--still watching.  They are determined, and they have all the time in their almost-World.  They are ready; they are waiting...


	3. Plans

Author's note: I know this one took a while--sorry!  I'm having some trouble writing this in a semi-realistic setting, so ANY ideas would be appreciated...-____-'''  This chapter is mostly introductory, so it doesn't have too much action, but it's important--I didn't want to mix anything in the next chapter with this one.  Serafinamoon, thanks for reviewing!  Well, it IS a little confusing right now, but you'll understand soon, I hope.  Hope you like this chapter!  ^___^

Chapter 3--Plans

_.....tried lots.  Still doesn't understand..._

_Don't worry.  Keep trying!_

_But....how long?_

_How long have we been trying?_

_Don't know....long..._

_Lots of time?_

_Don't know...._

_Think....Think it's been...._

_Been?_

_Think seven sun-times passed..._

_Don't understand._

_Outside....there's....a light...._

_A light?_

_A light....it...changes...._

_Changes?_

_It comes and goes...._

_That's...how they keep track of how long...Outside?_

_....think so....._

_Then.....seven.....what are they called?_

_Don't.....remember....but seven.  Know it's seven._

_Then....try again?_

_Yes.  Try again and again.  Till he understands!_

_...okay...._

_All right..._

_Then come on!_

Yugi smiled at his cat, Alleybones, who remained inscrutable.  He had come up with a plan, which he undoubtedly would have avoided like the plague if he hadn't been so tired.  

"If I can't stop dreaming about them, then I'm just not going to sleep.  They can't talk to me if I'm _awake_, right?  So, wake me up if I fall asleep, okay?"

Alleybones had her doubts about this idea; any cat knows that forcing yourself to go without sleep is unwise, and will eventually fail.  She said nothing, however; after all, what human ever changed their plans because a cat thought what they were doing was a bad idea?  In truth, it was a terrible plan.  The human body cannot survive without sleep indefinitely; eventually, someone not sleeping for days in a row would collapse from exhaustion.  But, like so many plans doomed to fail, it seemed like a good idea at the time.

It _did_ work, in a way--Yugi was able to force himself to stay awake.  This, however, had results that should have been obvious in the first place: in the morning, he was really, really tired.

_....didn't work!_

_Thought it would, but..._

_SAID it would work if we kept trying!_

_Well, thought it would!_

_....didn't.  Why?_

_...couldn't talk...._

_Can only talk when we can go inside...._

_Inside....yes....can't go Outside--wouldn't work._

_Need to talk INSIDE._

_Well, we'll wait.  See what happens.  _

_....make a new plan?_

_Soon.  New plan soon, if we can't talk._

_....okay....._

_Try again anyway.  Talk a little, maybe just a little._

_Just a few words...._

_Better than nothing...._

_Yes; do that._

                Yugi seemed tired in school that day, although his friends could think of no obvious reason for it.  They weren't really concerned; everyone gets tired some time.  Yugi knew why he was tired, but he didn't care.  It was better to be tired than to talk to dead people every night.  Yugi had indeed begun to believe what the dead repeatedly told him--that they were real, and he was not dreaming.  He had no interest in speaking to them, feeling slightly afraid of them, and very guilty.  They also observed, from far away; their plans were laid, but they were growing impatient.  They were remembering--relearning--the counting of time, and they wanted to speak again before too much of it passed.  All of these observers and plan-makers were ready.  All of them were waiting.

One more person was also watching, although saying that they were also waiting would be a stretch.

_Are you aware that there are no known health benefits to sleep deprivation?_

Yugi sighed.  He was getting progressively more tired.  "Yami, no one in our World believes that there are health benefits of sleep deprivation."

_No one but you, apparently.  Unless there's some other reason you're forcing yourself not to sleep?_

Yugi had so far kept his bizarre dreams--and resolution not to sleep--a secret.  This was an unwise choice, but not sleeping can impair the decision-making process difficult.  Now, more tired than ever, he stubbornly refused to explain anything.

"Look, I'm fine."

"Liar.  You are _not _fine."

"You shouldn't accuse me without any evidence, you know."

"How's this: the human body requires sleep to function.  You wouldn't be deliberately harming yourself without a reason, good or bad."

"....I'm _fine_."

"Okay, don't tell me what's wrong with you.  I'll figure it out by myself."

"Go right ahead," Yugi muttered to himself.  He wasn't really sure why he was refusing to tell anyone about his dreams, but it probably had more to do with sleep deprivation than logic.  It was also very foolish, but he didn't know that at the time.  And so everyone continued waiting, or watching, or doing nothing, as their plans dictated.

One group of watchers was growing impatient.

_...will work?_

_...don' t know...THINK so, though._

_If it doesn't...what then?_

_Can't not work for much longer.  Has to work sometime!_

_....how much longer?_

_.....not sure....but....soon.  Maybe soon.  Probably soon._

_Maybe?  Probably?  WHEN.  Want to know WHEN._

_.....soon.  Think...soon._

They will keep waiting.  They will keep watching.  They are right; their plans cannot fail for much longer.

Author's note: sorry this chapter took so long to go up!  I had MAJOR writer's block, and I had a ton of work to do.  Hopefully the next update will be quicker!  The plot continues to thicken, or just get more confusing, but don't worry--explanations will start coming soon.  Also, just for clarity: when Yami's dialogue switches from italics to normal quotes, it's a transition from talking mentally to doing visible manifestation--appearing as "ghosted" (transparent).  This happened in chapter six section one as well, but I forgot to explain.  Sorry!  Hope you liked this chapter--thanks everyone!  

~Subieko


	4. Do You Believe in Ghosts?

Author's note: as promised, explanations are coming!  Hopefully the last chapter wasn't too confusing (or boring)--this one should clear things up a bit.  Hope you like it!  ^__^

Chapter 4--Do You Believe in Ghosts?

                Yugi didn't really wake up that morning--he never went to sleep in the first place.  It was practically a miracle that he didn't fall down the stairs and break his neck; it was even more amazing that he managed to get to school without being hit by a car or otherwise injured.  Surprisingly, Yami did _not_ attempt to badger Yugi into explaining what was wrong with him; in an unusual bout of perceptiveness, he realized that the more he bothered Yugi, the less likely it was that he would get any useful information.  Yugi had decided not to tell anyone about whatever was wrong with him, and would stick with that decision if it killed him; watching him attempt to cross the street, Yami was worried that it might.

_....work this time?_

_...hope so...._

_Not till later, right?_

_Right--get ready now.  Later, we can talk._

_...why only later?  Why not now?_

_Talking this way only works sometimes.  When..._

_When what?_

_Outside...they call it...._

_...Outside?_

_...yes.  The way we're talking now...can only do it when..._

_When WHAT?_

_I think they call it....sleeping....they have to do it._

_...why?_

_Think so they can have energy, but not sure.  
Energy?_

_Do things--like now.  We talk.  We're talking a special way._

_Only works when that one does the sleeping thing?_

_Yes.  Outside is all strange.  It's better here._

_Better.  MUCH better._

_But, we'll wait._

_Yes...._

                Yugi wandered through most of the day in a sleepy haze.  He remembered little of his classes, although people (mostly teachers) had repeatedly told him to pay attention; their efforts, however, were in vain--a blank notebook page was the only thing Yugi gained from any attempted academic activity.  It wasn't that he didn't put in any effort; he was just too tired to concentrate.  At best, he heard about three words before zoning out; at worst, he got lost going from one class to the next.  By lunchtime, he was even more exhausted than when the day started, which was saying something.  Yugi's friends noticed that he seemed tired, but they blindly believed him when he muttered sleepily that he was fine.  He also fell down a staircase, but this concerned no one; Yugi fell down staircases, tripped over things, and fell from ladders and other high places with surprising regularity.  In spite of this tendency, however, Yugi's friends were growing worried.  It was unusual for anyone to be as tired as Yugi was for three days in a row.  When asked what was wrong, however, Yugi stubbornly responded that he was fine.  Yugi was not beyond help, but he was rapidly approaching it by pushing anyone and everyone who tried to offer assistance away.

*****

                Four children, sitting at a table.  That's all a stranger would have seen.  Four ordinary, human children, sitting and talking about ordinary, human things, eating lunch and doing nothing.  None of them looked as though they had death or war or other Worlds.  None of them looked troubled by the ugly specter of the past.

Well, almost none of them.

                Yugi was staring blankly into empty space, seemingly thinking about nothing.  This, however, was an illusion.  Although he had escaped dreaming about the dead by not sleeping, they now haunted his waking hours in memory.  After trying for weeks and months not to dwell on the memories of death and despair both of the wars he had fought, and was still fighting, had brought him, they had returned to antagonize Yugi again.  

Yugi sighed.  "I wonder if it hurts to die..."

This wasn't as suicidal as it sounded: Yugi was thinking about Farran.  He had died so quickly, without even time to say goodbye to his mortal existence...had it hurt?  Yugi's friends, of course, did _not_ know about Farran or Yugi's dreams, so they were completely thrown by this strange remark.  To them, it sounded crazy.

To Yami, it was a clue.

Yami knew that Yugi was _not_ suicidal--suicide had nothing to do with sleep.  However, he was no closer to figuring out what was wrong with Yugi, and it didn't look very likely that he would any time soon.

Yugi's friends were also worried; they, unlike Yami, had not even the slightest idea what was going on. 

"Uh...Yugi?  Are you okay?"

Yugi seemed to come out of a revere.  "...huh?  ...yeah...I'm fine...."

With that, he got up and wandered off, presumably to class, although his friends weren't sure he would be able to find it.

*****

                Yugi didn't remember much else of the day--his couldn't focus on anything.  Now, sitting at his desk in a futile attempt to do some of his homework, he couldn't even read the words on his papers.  He had now gone for three days without sleep, and the more dangerous side effects were piling up.  The human body can only go so long without recharging; pushing too far past its limits is unwise at best and harmful at worst.

Yugi's situation was definitely in the "worst" category.

Yugi finally gave up on whatever work he was trying to do (he couldn't read the papers to figure it out) and sat staring at the wall, trying to collapse.  

_Congratulations, Yugi--you've managed to convince your friends that you're a suicidal lunatic._

Yugi sighed.  "Well, I'm not."

_They don't understand what's happening to you._

"They don't need to...this is my problem."

"Your friends are worried about you--and so am I."

"Don't bother....I'm fine...." Yugi's voice was barely a whisper: he didn't have the energy either to speak or to argue.

"You are _not_ fine!  Yugi, you're only hurting yourself.  Just tell me what is wrong with you already!"

Yugi smiled slightly.  "I thought you were going to figure that out by yourself?"

"Yeah, well, I couldn't.  But that's beside the point!"

"Which is...?"

"Yugi, _you need help_.  It isn't healthy to go without sleep for three days straight, no matter why you do it--and you must have a reason.  I just want to help you--but I can't do that unless you tell me what's wrong."

Yugi really didn't have the energy to hold up his argument much longer; he had no real interest in secrecy.  Like many humans, he subconsciously felt that if he pretended nothing was wrong for long enough, it would be true; he didn't want to believe that it was possible for dead people to talk to him.  Finally, however, he was out of options and endurance.  Half-turning in his chair, Yugi looked up tiredly.  He had dark circles under his eyes, and he looked ready to collapse.

"...do you believe in ghosts?"

Author's note: He he he....a cliff-hanger!  I know this chapter took a while--sorry!  Thank you for the review, Serafinamoon.  No, this isn't under mysteries--it doesn't really count, since the mystery is only in the beginning, and the reader sort of knows what's going on the whole time; it is a mystery for Yugi, of course.  If Yami was freaked out before, you can only imagine his reaction to Yugi's last line...^___^;; Don't worry, I won't leave you hanging for long this time--really!  And there ARE answers coming soon!

~Subieko


	5. The Nobody People

Author's note: thanks for the review, Serafinamoon!  Yes, there are _finally_ some answers in this chapter.  Hope you like it!

Chapter 5--The Nobody-People

"Okay, let me get this straight...you've been talking to dead people in your sleep your about a week.  They told you they were real, so you decided to stop sleeping.  And...YOU DIDN'T TELL ME THIS!?"

It was a bizarre scene to an outsider: Yugi slouched in his desk chair in an almost vegetable state, and Yami perched on top of his desk shouting at him.  Or, to one without spirit sight, Yugi sitting in a chair talking to nobody.  Yugi blinked, trying to stay awake.  His unheeding counterpart continued ranting without pause.

"It didn't occur to you that maybe, just maybe, seeing and talking to people you know are dead is _not_ a good thing?  You _never_ wondered how it was possible for dead people to be talking to _anyone_?  Yugi, how could you possibly think something that stupid!?"

Yugi shrugged.  "Well, I was tired..."

"Yugi, ARE YOU CRAZY!?  Dead people can't talk!"

"I know it sounds crazy....but it's _true_...."

Yugi was so pathetic sounding (and looking) that Yami didn't have the heart to shout at him.

"Look...it's not that I don't believe you...it's just...."

"That you don't believe me?" Yugi smiled slightly; he knew his story sounded crazy, but he couldn't help thinking that Yami was the last person who should be calling anyone insane.

"I did _not_ say I didn't believe you!  But...how was not sleeping going to solve your original problem?"

Yugi thought about this for a second.  "I don't know.......it _seemed_ like a good idea....."

"I would ask why, but I'm afraid the answer might actually make sense--_that_ would be scary."

Yugi rubbed his eyes.  "I'm so tired..."

"Try sleeping--it's a well-known method for restoring energy," 

Yugi, completely missing the sarcasm, replied, "Weren't you _listening_?  I don't want to talk to a bunch of people I killed...."

"First of all, you did _not _kill those people--there was nothing you could have done to save any of them.  And Atrius was trying to kill you--how can you feel sorry for _him_?"

"A life is a life...they died to protect me.  Well, Atrius didn't...but Farran did....so did Shi-kai-dek...if they had never met me, maybe they'd still be alive..."

"And maybe they wouldn't.  The point is that they were willing to die for you--you didn't ask them to and it wasn't your fault."

"Yes, it was."

Realizing that this was a waste of time (and completely hopeless), Yami waved this aside for now. 

"I give up--you won't believe me no matter what I say.  The original problem was, what are we going to do about it?"

Yugi sighed.  He couldn't think clearly at this point; asking him what to do was about as helpful as asking the furniture.

"They can't really be talking to me...it isn't possible...is it?  I was so sure at first...but now....I don't know...."

Yami was much more coherent on this point.  "I don't believe for a second that the dead are really speaking to you--but I do believe that someone is.  I think I need to see your dreams for myself."

"....can you do that?  I mean...a dream is just part of my subconscious, right?"

"Not if it isn't a dream--and I have a feeling you aren't dreaming.  It would explain why you were tired even before you stopped sleeping--you weren't resting anyway."

"Still...even someone _is_ talking to me mentally...can you really talk to them?"

"If Vice could look at your memories, I can talk to these people.  Trust me."

"Well....I guess it could work....but....I don't see how...."

Yami hesitated.  He wasn't really sure how he did things; he just knew he could.  

"Yugi...I hate to do this to you, but...they have to talk to you before I can talk to them.  And they only talk to you when you're asleep.  See?"

"....no...."

"...maybe you're more tired than I thought....look--you go to sleep so they talk to you, and I can enter your mind to talk to them.  Got it?"

"....well, sort of...I still don't understand how you can go inside my mind, but if you say so...."

Yugi had gone without sleep for so long at this point that the minute he stopped resisting it, he collapsed into unconsciousness.  Yami sighed.

"For your sake, I hope this works...."

_Hey--listening again!_

_.....doing that sleeping thing?_

_Yes!_

_....so...we can talk now?_

_Yes!  TOLD you it would work!_

_...okay, okay....were right....now, let's go!_

_Yes--let's go!_

_Okay, come on then!_

_Yeah!_

Yugi later remembered no dreams at all; he probably dreamed something, but they never spoke to him.  To Yami, however, did--and he did not see what Yugi saw.

The place was the same; neither of them knew it, but Yami was right--Yugi had never been dreaming.  They were not just any people; they are a people that no one can remember, for no one ever knew about them.  They are a people who cannot remember themselves, a people that are not united by species or homeland or any identifying feature but their _lack_ of identifying features.  They are known--when anyone bothers to think about them--as the Lost, for Lost they are.  They have lost everything: their names, their memories, and most importantly, their identities.  They remember nothing of who they were before they became Lost; they do not know that they have ever been anything else.  They have cared about nothing for as long as they can remember (for they remember nothing), but now, they have found someone to talk to.  They have found Yugi, and they are not about to give up this one point of interest so easily.  They know that Yugi's mind is not present, and so they appear not as images taken from another's mind, but as their true, inner selves, selves that they do not consciously acknowledge, selves which are not akin to who or what they were before being Lost, but selves that reflect their natures.  Few enough of the Lost cling to any kind of consciousness; those that do have some measure of identity, if only because they have a limited awareness of self.  

These ones are here now.  They are angry, or at least as angry as they are capable of becoming.  They want to know what has happened--and why.

Everything was empty and silent, but Yami felt rather than saw or heard a vague, growing displeasure, as that of one who has long been asleep and, upon awakening, finds that things have changed in a way not to their liking.  Then, although there was no shift in the landscape, there were people.  It was hard to describe them any more specifically than this; it was as though they were nothing in particular, merely wisps of thought that had long been forgotten, and now abandoned, dwelt forlornly in this empty expanse.  This was not far from the truth, for they were their own thoughts, denied and forgotten to the extent that they ceased to be.  It was impossible to count their number; at times it seemed so many, at other times some other amount.  There were one or two figures that were clearer than the others, though all of them seemed hazy and gray, like mist rising off a lake in the morning, or a dull fog lingering after a gloomy day.  The one standing in the middle glared at him.  It was like to a young child, but it seemed not so; for the mind behind it had a presence that even a child could outmatch, yet is difficult to comprehend.  Its mind is simple, but its thought has grown deep of late.  This one spoke.

"We don't want to talk to _you_.  You'll just ruin everything," she said.  Her voice held a faint but growing note of annoyance and anger.  Yami had no idea who these people were, or even if they were people, but he had a strong feeling that they were very real, and possibly very dangerous.

"Who are you--and what do you want with Yugi!?"

The girl stared at him unnervingly.  It was like there was no self, no individual mind, behind that apathetic gaze.

"Us?  We're nobody.  We don't know Yugi.  We just want to talk to the One-Who-Is-Two.  The one who can talk to us.  We don't want to talk to you!"

This was even more confusing to Yami.  Not used to thinking of identifying people without using names, he had no idea who these strangers (or potential enemies, as he thought of them) could be referring to.  He also didn't understand what they meant by "nobody."

"One who is two?  What are you talking about?  And what do mean--nobody?"

Another figure, less clear than the girl, shifted slightly.

"One-Who-Is-Two...Master said..."

"True!  Master DID say, it IS true!"

"Then him..."

"Two?"

"No!  Can't be!"

"....maybe.  Think so, anyway."

"Well...maybe..."

Yami still didn't know what they were talking about, and he still didn't know who they were.  The Lost have very short attention spans.  They can be difficult for all but the most patient people to talk to, and Yami was far from even a normal amount of patience.

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!?"

The group turned, looking slightly put out.  The girl voice was positively icy when she spoke.

"We aren't talking to _you_.  We want to talk to One-Who-Is-Two.  Want to talk to _that_ one.  You don't belong here!"

"...but....where is here?"  
The girl shrugged in an unconcerned way.

"Doesn't matter.  Here is here."

"Listen--just tell me who you are."

The girl rolled her eyes as though this should be very obvious.

"We're _no_body.  TOLD you that already.  Nobody.  Weren't listening.  Why ask if you aren't going to listen?"

"But--tell me your names!"

They all looked faintly shocked, as though this was a terrible thing to say.

"No names here!  No names!"

"Names are bad--you must have one--you're only trouble, we don't want to talk to you!"

"Well--okay, forget the names.  Who is it you're trying to talk to?"

This time they all looked exasperated.

"TOLD you.  Want to talk to _that_ one.  One-Who-Is-Two.  The one we've BEEN talking to!"

"But...how?"

"Like you--talk when mind isn't busy.  Outsiders call it sleeping.  We don't understand, but that's what we have to do."

Yami was gradually starting to figure out that they must have been talking to Yugi, but didn't know who he was.

"You mean...the person you call one who's two...that's Yugi?"

The girl shrugged again.

"Don't know about that....then....that one has a name--Yugi?  His mind is very strange...lots of people..."

"What are you talking about?"

"The people--the ones we do talking about.  That's how we talk--they're just pictures in that one's mind...didn't you know?"

"But--those are _real people_!  You're...looking at Yugi's memories?"

This was a puzzler for the Lost--they weren't too sure what memories were.  Tipping her head to one side like a very small child, the girl thought for a moment.

"Guess so...but thought...thought they were just pictures..."

"Yeah, well, stop it.  Go away--stop talking to Yugi--I don't know.  Just leave him alone!"

The girl glared at him very dangerously.

"You can't make us go away.  Can't make us!  We want to talk to that one--we will, you can't make us go away!  You'll just ruin everything, but we won't let you!  _I_ won't let you!"

Yami missed the immense importance of her referring to herself as "I"--he wasn't too sure what these people were doing, but as far as he was concerned, they were dangerous.

"Leave Yugi alone--or you'll have to find out for yourselves whether or not I can stop you."

The Lost didn't care much about this--they weren't very good at recognizing threats.  They faded away, and Yami also faded from their odd home, if that was what the strange place was.  Back in his own World, Yugi was unsurprisingly still asleep at his desk.  Outside, the cold stars glittered in their silent sky.  Yami frowned.  He had a feeling that the "nobody people," as he had already begun to call them, weren't through causing trouble yet...


	6. The Girl From Nowhere

Author's note: Thank you for reviewing, Chace, Serafinamoon, and Mitsu-teshi!  Well, they aren't really talking to Yugi _through his memories—more like based on his memories.  They can see his memories, but they're basically making things up, because they don't actually know that what they see are memories.  Don't worry if you're confused—this is supposed to be a little confusing.  I've never read Butterfly Revolution, but I have heard that road to hell saying before—I just thought it was the kind of thing Atrius might say, and therefore the kind of "voice" the Lost would adopt when they pretend to be him.  Hope you like this chapter!  ^___^ _

Chapter 6--The Girl from Nowhere

_Now what?_

_Not sure...maybe..._

_Maybe WHAT?  Nothing left to do.  No more ideas..._

_No!  Not giving up yet!  _I'm_ not giving up yet!_

_....don't understand.....don't...._

_Don't understand either.  What are you talking about?_

_Well....I did have an idea._

_What is it?_

_It's...sort of dangerous, maybe.  Not sure._

_What is it?_

_...just have to go there.  Outside._

_OUTSIDE!?_

_No!  Can't go there!_

_....have to.  I'm going!_

_....then....hope it works..._

_Be careful!_

_Don't worry...it'll work--I'm sure it will!_

            Yugi gradually came awake, yawning.  Completely forgetting that he was sitting at his desk, he sat up, toppled off of his chair, rolled across the floor, and would have fallen all the way down the stairs had he not slammed into his closed door.

In short, it was not an encouraging start to the day.

            Getting up, Yugi started looking for his school books and papers.  This wasn't as easy as it sounded: everything in Yugi's room was kept on shelves.  He had long since stopped leaving things on the floor.  Yugi had learned to Summon monsters, but he still hadn't quite mastered controlling them.  This was why his room looked like it had been rearranged by a tornado.  Although most of Yugi's cards kept to their own realm outside of battle, some of his more bestial monsters had learned to Summon themselves, and consequently, anything in Yugi's room that wasn't locked up was actively being destroyed.  The Komouri dragon was largely at fault; it had developed the bad habit of chewing on power cords, and although the monster had never admitted to it, Yugi believed that it had also eaten the bulb of his lamp.  Anything near the floor was slightly burned; Kuriboh liked to "practice" its Burning Hands spell, and nothing Yugi said would convince it that conjuring fire inside a wooden house was dangerous.  He used to have a rug, but had removed it before it was completely ripped to shreds by Silverfang; wolves rarely make good house pets.  In fact, the only self-Summoning monster that _didn't_ cause trouble was Aero the Dratini; he spent most of his time sleeping anywhere Yugi couldn't trip over him.

            After finding about half of his books, Yugi tripped over his cat and dropped them all, then had to find them all over again.

_Why the hurry?_

"I _do_ have to go school, you know."

_Don't bother--there's only about two hours left._

"WHAT!?"

Yugi looked at his clock, but it too was broken; the casing was cracked, and Yugi still couldn't figure out what had happened to its batteries.  It always read 4:30, but Yugi knew better than to get a new clock--it wouldn't last more than a day anyway.

_You really need to get a watch._

"I used to have a watch..."

_You gave it to Benjamin, and he took it apart to fix his Gating device.  You need a _new_ watch._

"Well, until I have a working timepiece that doesn't get stolen, broken, or lost, what time is it?"

_No idea, but it's around __noon__._

"How do you know that?"

_Try looking out the window._

Yugi did so, then thought for a second.

"Then why didn't you wake me up!?"

_Earth to Yugi...you haven't slept in three days!  What exactly were you going to accomplish at school?  Besides, you're already failing half your classes._

"I am _not_ failing half my classes--only three!  And we're not on earth anyway."

_Most people would identify this planet as earth.  You're thinking of Sol.  And three is almost half of eight._

"It's not my fault that I'm failing science, the laws of physics are completely wrong.  And so is history, we go by Sol standards."

_Just because the laws of physics are wrong doesn't mean you have to write that on tests._

"Well--whatever."

Shoving all his books back onto shelves (and immediately forgetting where he had put them) Yugi hunted in his closet for a few minutes and located his shoes.

"Now what?"

Half-way through tying his shoes, Yugi looked up.

"It wouldn't be productive to just sit here doing nothing all day."

"And wandering doing nothing is somehow better?"

Yugi stood up and opened his door.

"_You_ don't have to come."

Forgetting that he had never finished tying his shoes, Yugi tripped and fell all the way down the stairs, as usual.

"Just try not to get yourself killed...."

*****

_...you're sure?_

_Very sure._

_But...could be dangerous..._

_Please be careful!_

_Don't worry.  I'll be careful.  Nothing bad will happen, it's only a little while._

_Still...don't know what might happen..._

_It's Outside...Outside is bad...._

_I'll be FINE.  I'm going, there's no way I'm not._

_.......be CAREFUL...._

_Come back soon..._

_I will....don't worry....._

            Yugi didn't really  have a destination or a purpose in mind when he left his house.  He wasn't really thinking about getting one.  In fact, he wasn't really thinking about anything that was going on.  He was thinking about Farran.  Of all the people he had seen die, he had known Farran best; the Clanner child had accompanied him on a journey through Dark World during the Shadow War, the first war Yugi had ever fought in.  Farran was a Clanner, although of course Yugi hadn't known that at the time; even if he had, he wouldn't have known what it meant.  He hadn't known that a Clanner in Dark World was about as unusual as snow in July.  He hadn't even known Farran wasn't human.  Farran, of course, had known all of these things about Yugi.  He had known that he was helping a human, and furthermore, a human in Dark World--even more unlikely than a Clanner.  He had been fighting his entire life, and death was nothing new to him.  Farran had been ready to die for his cause, even when he wasn't sure what that cause was.  Farran hadn't been afraid to die for Yugi, and he certainly wouldn't have blamed Yugi for his death.  Yugi knew this, but he also held the contradictory belief that Farran's death was his fault.  This was the entire basis of his problems with the Lost.  Literally not knowing anything about anything, they used only information found within Yugi's mind to communicate.

Unfortunately, any information within someone's mind has a tendency to be biased.

_....soon now....very soon...._

_Outside....going Outside...._

_You don't even know where Outside is!  How will you go there?_

_I'll just go.  I know I can._

_...look!_

_Now?  Right now?_

_...wait.....I think....NOW!_

Yugi wasn't watching where he was going; without a destination, there was no way he could be in the wrong place.  Everything passed him by, not noticing or caring about one more stranger on the road.  People are like that; they don't care much about you unless they have a good reason, and of course Yugi didn't look particularly important to them.

Looks can be deceiving.

The Lost were very interested in Yugi, although didn't know who he was.  They weren't really sure what their goal was, or even if they had one, but they knew one thing: this one was special.  And now, for the first time, one of the Lost was going to go Outside.  Yugi had no idea that any of this was going on; he didn't even know about the existence of the Lost, since Yami had completely forgotten to mention them.  Consequently, he wasn't prepared in the least for what happened next.

_....hope she'll be okay...._

_...hope so too._

Yugi wasn't sure what it was that made him look up at first--just a flash of movement at the edge of his vision.  Looking around, he saw an indistinct figure standing in the shadow of a building.  When he looked at it, it turned and walked away.  Yugi didn't know why, but he suddenly felt that whoever they were, they were important.  Not knowing that one of a Guardian's abilities is to detect intruders in their World, he ran after whoever--or whatever--it was.

She, or perhaps it, was certainly an outsider in this World.  Yugi didn't know that; he just knew that something was strange about this person.

"Hey--wait a sec!"

Not only was Yugi running after a being from outside the Multiverse entirely, he was also completely lost.  The Lost one felt more comfortable in dark places because she wasn't sure what light was, so he ended up following her down a narrow alley between a group of buildings, and ended up outside an abandoned warehouse.  Not that Yugi noticed any of this; by the time he got to the end of this journey, the Lost one was ready to talk to him.

She was an odd sight; her skin was a pale white-gray, and her clothes were darker shades of gray in nondescript cloth.  They looked vaguely old-fashioned, but not recognizably belonging to any particular time period or style.  Her long, graphite-colored hair hung down near her waist as she perched on top of a section of wall.  She smiled disarmingly, swinging her short legs back and forth as young children often do, but there was something eerie in her empty expression and vacant stare.  When she turned to look at Yugi, he saw that she her eyes were as flat and colorless as the rest of her; they had no pupils.

"Hello, Yugi.  I was waiting for you."


	7. We'll be Watching

Author's note: I actually updated quickly this time!  This chapter is short, but things are finally starting to get moving--hope you like the story so far!

Chapter 7--We'll be Watching

"...waiting?"

Yugi instinctively felt that this person was dangerous, that he should be running away from her as fast as possible, but he didn't move; in truth, he was curious about the girl sitting on the wall, and how she knew his name.  The girl looked at him, smiling; it was the kind of smile usually seen on the faces of the insane.

"Of course I was waiting for you, Yugi.  I wanted to talk to you."

"How did you know my name?  ...and why do you want to talk to me?"

Her eyes widened as though this should be perfectly obvious.

"Be_cause_.  Wanted to _talk_ to you.  _Talk.  _I TOLD them we could.  Told them YOU could.  But, weren't sure...I was sure!  Very, very sure!  Now they'll see that was true..."

Yugi wasn't sure who or what she was talking about, but he felt inexplicably afraid of this girl and any people that she knew.  The Lost girl was certainly creepy; gray-colored people with no pupils who mysteriously appear out of thin air usually are.

"..............who are you?"

The girl shrugged, frowning in a so-so kind of way.

"Me?  I'm nobody."

It took a moment for Yugi to convince himself that he hadn't misheard her.  How could she be nobody?  It didn't make any sense.

"Well..._what_ are you?"

She shrugged again.

"I'm _no_body.  I'm nothing.  Come from nowhere.  All of us are nobody."

"But--it's impossible for you not to be anything, and you have to come from somewhere--you have to be someone or something!"

The girl rolled her eyes.  

"TOLD you.  I didn't say I'm not anything--I'm _nothing_.  I didn't say I don't come from somewhere--come from _no_where.  I didn't say I'm not somebody OR something--I'm _no_body and NOTHING.  TOLD you that already!"

Yugi had a feeling this conversation was unlikely to go anywhere but in circles--_it's going _no_where_, he thought it himself.  The girl seemed to have a complete lack of identity, but how was that possible?  Like most of his World, Yugi had known who he was for so long that it seemed impossible not to.  This, of course, was a false impression.  The girl speaking to Yugi not only had no idea who she was or where she came from, but no idea _that_ she was or that it was possible to come from somewhere.  The fact that she retained any communication skills was incredible.  Yugi, however, knew none of this.

"Tell me why you wanted to talk to me."

The girl looked innocently at him, but this was more disturbing than reassuring; having someone with gray, pupil-less eyes stare at you is an unusual--and in most cases unwanted--experience.

"Because you can hear us.  Because we can talk to you.  Because you can talk to us.  Wanted to talk.  Wanted to talk to YOU.  Weren't sure that we could come here to talk at first, but I did it, and I'm okay, so we can."

She looked away suddenly, struggling to concentrate.

"Can't stay anymore--I have to go now, but don't worry, Yugi...we'll be watching you."

She didn't really vanish--it was more like fading to Yugi's eyes.  He didn't know that fading is an unusual talent, even among incorporeal beings, or he might have realized that this girl was much stranger than he suspected.  As it was, he wasn't too worried--the girl hadn't seemed particularly dangerous.  No, it was her last words that made him uneasy; he had been hunted long enough to be wary of anyone who said they would be watching him.  Her use of "we" instead of "I" also concerned him--who were these people, and what did they want?  Yugi couldn't answer either of these questions, but he decided that he would cross that bridge when he came to it.  Still...if these people were looking for him, who knew what might happen next?  Yugi sighed.

"I'll just have to be careful, that's all--" Yugi's words were cut off as, not watching where he was going, he slammed into his own front door.  Yugi shook his head.  Careful?  He couldn't even walk through a door without getting hurt; what was he going to do about the watchers from nowhere?


	8. Whispers and Watchers

Author's note: I'm sorry this took so long!  I had writer's block for about a month...-____-''' Even now, the setting is a little vague--that's because it's realistic.  Thank you for reviewing, everyone!  Chace--Sol isn't a person, it's a place.  It's our World, or at least the Multiverse name for it.  Important thing about Sol: it's almost impossible to get in or out--it's a complete Gate dead zone, totally isolated from the Multiverse.  However, a lot of earth-like Worlds (like Yugi's World) have similar history and science, even if it isn't totally accurate.  Mitsu-teshi--she _is_ creepy, and it only gets worse!  Serafinamoon--yeah, Yugi has a lot of problems...and soon he's going to unintentionally compound them.

Chapter 8--Whispers and Watchers

_So it did work..._

_Yes.  I'm back--I'm fine._

_Then...._

_That means....  
It means you can go too._

_But--_

_Outside!_

_We can't....we CAN'T..._

_I did.  I didn't get hurt.  You can do it too._

_But...._

_But WHAT?_

_What is it like....Outside?_

_It was boring.  There's nothing good Outside._

_Then....why do we have to go?_

_Because THAT one is there.  Need to talk to that one..._

_You already did--you go!_

_No, you should go.  It's IMPORTANT.  HAVE to go._

_But......_

_.......me too?_

_Of course you too.  We can ALL go, if we want to._

_Then.....I guess I'll go......._

_But Outside--WHY do we need to go Outside?_

_TOLD you.  Because that one is Outside!_

_So...why can't that one just come HERE?_

_Because he just can't.  You have to go._

_.............it IS important......at least....I think so....._

_Well....well, then....guess so...._

_I'm sure even if you aren't.  So GO!_

_....now?_

_Not YET.  You have to wait._

_...for what?_

_For a good time.  For when that other one won't notice._

_This is too hard!  Why do we have to wait?_

_BECAUSE.  That other one wants to stop us._

_....can't stop us.....can he?_

_I don't know and I don't want to find out.  If he stops us..._

_Then....we can't talk......_

_.........then there'll be nobody to talk to............._

_So you have to wait.  I'll tell you when it's time._

_....okay........................_

_If you're sure....guess....sure too._

_Good.  Now we just have to wait..._

            Yugi wasn't really _afraid_ of the Lost yet--in fact, he still wasn't aware of their existence.  He had spoken to one of the Lost, but he didn't know that there were any others, or even that she was part of a particular group of people.  Yugi was fairly certain that the girl was an incorporeal being from the way she had faded, but he couldn't be sure where she came from; perhaps if he had remembered to tell Yami about it, he would have learned that she belonged to an entire group of mysterious, gray nobody-people.  He forgot to mention it, however, and therefore had no idea what he was getting into.  Of course, very few people have any ideas about the Lost.  Even the Lost don't know who or what they are.  Now, however, they knew one thing: they wanted to talk to Yugi, no matter what it took.

_Now?_

_.....wait....._

_NOW?_

_Wait!_

_.....want to know when.  Now?_

_WAIT!!!_

_..........._

_Okay, now!_

_Finally...._

_Just GO!_

_Okay.....now......so...._

_GO!!!_

_........going...._

_......good luck._

_Okay....._

_.......what's luck.........._

_Not sure....just...._

_........what..........._

_Something....something I....._

_..................what............................._

_Something I remembered....._

            It was more like a flicker of movement at the edge of his vision than anything; Yugi didn't suspect that a literal nonentity from a place outside the Multiverse itself was trying--and failing--to appear in his World.  Still, Yugi turned to look after it; Guardians are usually very sensitive to intruders in their Worlds.  There was nothing there...but had there been?

_What is it?_

"I don't know..."

_Well, I certainly don't know._

"....guess it was nothing."

*ring*

_I still don't see why you bother going to this stupid school._

"Because it's the _law_."

_In that case, you'd better get going--if you have to learn the gibberish they put in those books you might as well be on time._

Yugi went to his next class; it probably _had_ been nothing, after all.

*****

            Actually, it _was_ nothing--almost.  It was one of the Lost.  This one wasn't very skilled at manifesting itself in the Multiverse, so it had quickly flickered out again.  Its compatriots were less than pleased.

_You didn't do it!  You didn't talk!_

_I TRIED.....it was so hard...._

_..............hard............._

_Well it was!_

_If I could do it so can you!_

_..............me too?_

_You can go after.  Don't worry, it isn't that hard._

_Wish he could go now--I'm no good at this._

_You just have to try again--and remember, watch out for the other one._

_..............good luck..............._

_Good luck?_

_..........she said it..............._

_Oh.  Well, I'll try.  ...what should I say?_

_I don't know...anything you want._

_...............want................._

_Anything?_

_Anything._

_So....go now?_

_Yes--go now!_

            Yugi didn't even notice the Lost at first; it was unobtrusively watching him, not entirely sure what it was supposed to be doing.  But, with the sixth sense of a Guardian, he suddenly felt that someone--or some_thing_--was standing behind him.  This in itself was not particularly alarming; but who or whatever it was, it was _not of his World_.  Oddly, Yugi did not turn around to find out what it was or talk to it; he had enough experience with other Worlds that he didn't want to know.  The Lost, of course, was not helpful at all.  It said and did nothing for an entire class, unaware that anything was going on and not knowing what to say--the other Lost's advice of saying "anything you want" was far too vague for an identity-less, non-thinking being.  When he got up to leave, however, Yugi _did_ see what had been behind the entire class.  Dropping everything he was carrying, he stared at the Lost, speechless.  No one even looked up; most of Yugi's classmates were slightly afraid of him.

            The Lost was much like the others of its kind; grey, pupil-less, emotionless, identity-less existence was its entire being.  Unlike the first Lost Yugi had seen, it did not appear either very young or very old; it was incredibly vague in all respects.  It watched him, looking confused.  Yugi shut his eyes, praying that the whatever-it-was wouldn't be there when he looked again.

_.....what are you looking at?_

The Lost one had disappeared, but Yugi, of course, didn't know this.  He wasn't sure whether it had ever been there in the first place.

"Nothing....I think....:

*****

_....you didn't say anything!  How will that one know if you don't TALK?_

_Well, I didn't know what to say!_

_.............what to say................_

_I TOLD you you could say anything!_

_.....I didn't know.....what to say.....and then the other one was there, I had to go!_

_......................had to go......................_

_Hmm....well.....I don't think the other one can see us.  So...maybe..._

_You want me to go back?_

_...yes.  You have to go back--you have to talk to that one, you have to tell him about us!_

_Tell him WHAT?_

_Tell him....I don't know.  Anything about us...we want him to know about us!_

_.............about us............._

_I'll TRY, but......don't know.....if I can...._

_Go.  You have to do it....._

_Well.....okay......_

            The Lost was up against a greater challenge than he knew.  Yugi wasn't sure whether there were really mysterious strangers no one else could see appearing to him, or whether he was going crazy (which he felt was more likely), but he was determined to ignore them.  He didn't know who they were or what they wanted (if they really existed and they weren't a hallucination), and he didn't want to find out; he had a feeling these people, real or not, were dangerous.  So when one of them appeared and started following him around, he tried hard to pretend it wasn't there.

The Lost didn't really know what to say, but it knew it had to say _something_.  To make up for its lack of ideas, it started speaking at random.  It wasn't sure whether Yugi couldn't or wouldn't talk to it, but it didn't really care at this point.

"....._she_ wanted me....to talk to that one....to you......"

Yugi walked down the hall in silence, not even looking at the Lost.

".....she said.....we want you to know about us.....so......I should tell you anything about us.....she has a lot of.....thoughts....didn't before....lots of new things....I don't know about it....this place.....Outside.....I don't like it much....."

The Lost trailed after Yugi into a classroom.

"Don't like it.........it's bad.....there's nothing good here....don't know....why _you_ like it.....shouldn't......it's bad......."

Yugi still couldn't decide whether the Lost was real or not, but for now he decided that it wasn't going to shut up unless he talked to it.

"Go away!"

_Yugi....who are you talking to?_

Yugi thought about this for a moment; then he remembered something. 

_"..............who are you?"_

_The girl shrugged, frowning in a so-so kind of way._

_"Me?  I'm nobody."_

"I'm not sure....but I think.....nobody...."


	9. Hikari

Author's note: Yeah, I know I said this update would be faster, but life intervened.   -____-'''  Finally there are some answers, or at least there will be soon!  Serafinamoon, thanks for the review!  Yes, I know it's confusing, but it's supposed to be.  The Lost get explained more in this chapter (kind of), and there'll be more explanations soon.  I DO have the plot set up--I just don't know how to say what I want...-________________-''''  Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 9--Hikari

_It still isn't working!_

_Well....tried a lot....maybe....can't work...._

_It CAN work!  It has to....._

_...........why..........._

_Because--this one can hear us--talk to us--it has to be...._

_Has to be WHAT?  _

_Well.....if that one can see us...._

_WHAT?_

_If that one can see us we have to talk to him!_

_.............said........said.......could go.........._

_It's hard.  Very, very hard.  Had to go back a lot......_

_..............SAID.............._

_Well, he could still go.  Just go like before.  You know--wouldn't have to go outside._

_.....like before?_

_No--just talk this time.  You still want to go?_

_.............okay.............._

_Well, then go!_

_................okay.................._

_Think this will work?_

_Sure it will.  We won't have to worry about the other one either._

_Well, it's hard!_

_Don't worry.  This WILL work........._

*dream sequence*

            Yugi wasn't surprised, when he found himself once again in the flat, shadowy place, to see someone approaching.  He _was_ surprised when who-ever-it-was arrived.  It was less like a person than a purple-black cloud of mist, which took on vaguely bipedal shape when it saw (he thought--it had no visible eyes) him.  Yugi watched silently as the cloud slowly conformed to a humanoid shape, then turned toward him.  Yugi shivered; the creature had no face or features.

".................................."

It seemed like it was about to say something, but it remained silent.  Although it didn't seem dangerous, it was incredibly frightening.  Shifting slightly, it spoke, its voice a barely audible whisper, like the dry crackling of dead autumn leaves.

"..............you..........."

Yugi was surprisingly calm once the creature spoke; he couldn't help feeling sorry for the poor, faceless nonentity before him.

"Who are you, and why are you here?"

It shrugged listlessly.

".............nobody........."

Yugi realized that the creature had almost no ability to think; questions with "why" in them were unlikely to elicit any response.

"Are you here to talk to me?"

"....................." It nodded.

"Did those other people send you?"

It nodded again, then looked up, or at least its face-like portion seemed to look up.  It was preparing to speak; this took several minutes, during which it collected what thoughts it had left.

".........supposed......to talk........."

"You're supposed to talk to me?"

".................................yes..........."

Yugi nodded encouragingly.  "Okay, then talk."

".......................never....said much........."

"Why not?"

".......don't know.......what to say......."

"Well, tell me about the place you come from."

"Come.......from....?"

"Yeah--like I come from my World.  I'm not sure where I am right now...is this where you live?"

"..........live....?"

"Well--where you are usually."

"........don't.......understand......"

Yugi sighed.  This conversation was going nowhere.  "Just tell me where we are now."

"We're.......here......"

"Here _where_?"

"........_here_.  Not Outside......._you_........live Outside....."

Yugi wasn't sure what the difference between Outside and not Outside (maybe Inside?) was, so he tried to find out more about the creature's home.

"What do you do here?"

".........nothing......"

"Well, who else lives here?"

".....nobody...."

"Is there _anything_ here?"

"........there's........Master.......and.....The Place......"

Yugi was glad it had said "nothing" again, but he wasn't sure who or what Master was, and he didn't understand how a place could exist if the creature's home was nowhere.  Could the creature tell him?  He had to find out.

"Who is Master?"

".........Master is Master....."

"Does he command you?"

"........don't.......understand......."

It occurred to Yugi that commanding the people who lived here would be impossible if this one was any example.  He decided to skip over Master for now.

"Where is the place you mentioned?"

"..........The Place is The Place.........."

"_What_ is the place?"

It paused, preparing for its longest speech yet.

"....sometimes....we go there....._she_ takes us.....that's how....we found....you............."

"Why do all of you want to talk to me, and why can't anyone else see you?"

"......want......to talk.....to you.....because.........you can see us.............."

With this answer that answered nothing, it disappeared, and Yugi awakened.  He knew better than to think the faceless creature had been a dream.  The real question had finally emerged: who or what were the mysterious nonentities who so desired to contact Yugi?

*****

_................tried.............._

_You were supposed to TALK!_

_.......DID............._

_You hardly talked at all!_

_Well, it's hard..._

_............hard..............._

_I did it, and it wasn't hard at all!_

_YOU go then...._

_.....................yes.........._

_Fine!  I'll go do it myself.  It WILL work, it isn't hard--you'll see._

            Thinking about the three strange beings who had spoken to him, Yugi decided that they must be somehow connected, possibly from the same place or species.  At the moment, these three were also thinking about him.  They were waiting for exactly the right moment to reenter the Multiverse and talk to him; unfortunately, they knew very little about what the right moment would be.

_How about now?_

_No....not yet..._

_..........why......._

_Just not yet.  Wait a little...._

_What's that place there?_

_I'm not sure...maybe that's a good place to talk._

_.........those things..........._

_Yes--what are they?_

_I don't know...they aren't important, they're an Outside thing._

_They're all stopped now--maybe you should go talk to that one?_

_Yes--now is right._

            "That one" was about to cross a street, but of course the Lost didn't know that the middle of a road is a bad place to hold a conversation.  They didn't remember roads or cars, so it really wasn't their fault--they just couldn't understand.

            Yugi had reached about the middle of the road when she appeared.  It wasn't the type of appearance gotten from a Gating device--it was as though she had walked through an invisible door.  Yugi stopped dead, staring at her; he recognized her as one of the strange, identity-less people who had been talking to him.  

_Wait...what's that?_

_.......don't know......_

_It could be bad--it's Outside, it could hurt her!_

            The girl looked up for a moment, hearing something.  She didn't know about roads and cars, so, thinking it was some dangerous, terrible thing from the Outside, she fled back to her own realm.  Yugi, however, didn't know where she was going.

"Hikari, wait!"

            Yugi also didn't know he that could follow her.

            Everything was flat and colorless, a gray oblivion extending forever.  There was nothing there, because this place _was_ nothing.  It was unreachable to most without a high price--identity.  Lose it, and forevermore it is your home.  Few can withstand it for long without great cost to themselves, since it is a part of the Wilds.  That realm is full of chaos and disorder, and almost nothing can survive there.  The Realm of the Lost is unique; it is semi-habitable, but its occupants don't know that.  Most of them don't know anything at all.  

            They lose themselves in a variety of ways, but the most common is apathy and neglect.  Ignore your true nature for long enough and it ceases to exist; that's the law that keeps the Realm of the Lost full.  Not that most stay for long--it's only a matter of time before they revert to their simplest states of matter and energy, their identities gone forever.

            Yugi had not yet fully entered the Realm of the Lost; his physical body remained within his own World.  Only his conscious mind was present in the Realm, but it didn't really matter.  The Realm isn't choosy about what lies inside its borders.

The girl smiled triumphantly.

"I knew it had to be...no one believed me, but it's true!  You're here, it's true...."

"What's true?  I don't understand..."

"It's true that you aren't like THEM."

"Like _who_?"

"You know--the ones who live in THAT sort of a place--the Outside.  Not like us."

"But--I _do_ live there!  I'm one of them!"

She shrugged, seemingly unconcerned by this protest.

"You don't really belong there....you're one of us......you belong here."

Yugi couldn't explain why that bothered him so much; it couldn't possibly be true....could it?

"I'm not one of you--I can't be!  It's impossible..."

"How come?"

"Because--because I'm NOT!  I don't belong here--I'm not like you!"

"Sure you are.  You can see us.  You can hear us.  You can talk to us.  You can come HERE.  You must be one of us."

"There has to be another reason...I can't be one of you...that just can't be....."

Back in the Multiverse, Yugi was in serious danger of being hit by a car.

"Get out of the road, you stupid kid!"

*beep*

_Yugi?  Uh....Yugi?_

"Of course it can.  You couldn't come here if you weren't one of us.  You're HERE, aren't you?"

"Well...well...."

"You ARE one of us.  You DO belong here.  It's true because it is."

"But....."

"You are one of us."

*beep*

"Crazy kid--what's he standing there for?"

_Yugi, move!_

Yami shoved Yugi sideways (and out of the path of any moving vehicles).  This brought Yugi back to himself.

"....huh?  What happened?  Where am I?"

_Right now, you're about to be late._

"Wha...?  Oh, right!"

Yugi started walking toward school again, wondering if Hikari could possibly be right.


	10. Dissection

Author's note: thanks for reviewing, Serafinamoon!  Yes, now that I know what's going on I will FINALLY be able to update more than once a month!  -_____-'''  Yeah, I know it's getting confusing, but explanations ARE coming--they just aren't here yet.  And of course the Lost haven't got a clue what's going on either--right now, nobody does (except me).  Soon a few people may be figuring things out...hope you like this chapter!

Chapter 10--Dissection

_See?  I told you it wasn't hard._

_Well, it's hard for me...._

_.........................me too..............._

_This time you have to go.  You haven't done anything yet, you have to!_

_But.......___

_You're going!_

_................................._

_I'm not very good at this...._

_Just GO!_

_Right now?___

_Wait--not yet.  Soon, though._

_..............soon...........__  
When?_

_I'll tell you when.  Just wait._

_Okay............._

_.........soon................................................_

            "Now, people, you all have your diagrams of the frog's anatomy, so let's take them out..."

Yugi's biology teacher was explaining the dissection process for the frog, but he didn't hear a word of it.  Yugi was a teacher's worst nightmare: his notes were full of what looked like gibberish (it was actually Darkling), he never paid attention in class, and he disagreed with half of what was in the textbook.  Consequently, most teachers chose to pretend they didn't see him ignoring them; they knew better than to ask him what he was doing, because they usually got responses that made no sense.  Yugi's history teacher, having a sarcastic streak, had once made the mistake of asking what all the odd symbols in the margins of his notes were: "Practicing your Sanskrit, Yugi?"  Yugi, not even looking up, had said, "Something like that."  Henceforth his teacher stopped speaking to him, and he happily ignored everything that went on in the class, since he thought most of it conflicted with what he knew about World formation.  His biology class was much the same: it dealt only with corporeal beings found in his World, so he didn't think it was that useful when what he needed to know was how to kill demons and fight Darklings.  This problem was only compounded by having a talkative (and frequently annoying) incorporeal being in his head.

_I just don't see what's so educational about chopping up dead stuff.  You can do that anytime._

Yugi wrote at the corner of his notebook, 'It's not chopping, it's dissecting.'

_Same difference.  What can you possibly learn by cutting up frogs?  What idiot made this a part of the educational system?_

'Frogs are good for medicine.  Or something like that.'

_Come on--what will you learn about medicine by cutting up a dead frog?_

'If I could hear what we're supposed to be taking notes on I might know.'

_Just ask Benjamin sometime--he's probably chopped up a frog or two._

'He only hunted squirrels.'

_If cutting up dead frogs is educational, squirrels must be even better._

'I don't think so.'

_Imagine having to buy dead frogs.  Where can you get them?  What do you do, go to a grocery store and say, 'Hello, I'm looking for a pound of dead frogs.'  Or are they _preserved_ frogs?  Imagine _selling_ dead frogs.  That must not be a popular job..._

'How is any of that important?'

_If cutting up dead frogs is important, anything is._

'I am TRYING to listen here.'

_Why?_

'Because I need to know how to dissect frogs so I don't fail this class.'

_Somehow, I doubt 'cut up a dead frog'  really improves a resume._

"Now, let's head to the lab...dissection instruments are on the tables.  And be CAREFUL, people, they're DANGEROUS, I don't wanna see anybody fooling around in here!"

Yugi sat staring out the window while everyone else got up and started getting their coats.

"Hey--Yugi, wake up!"

Yugi looked up.

"I'm not ASLEEP, I'm just not paying attention..."

_You should--all those chopping up tools are DANGEROUS, people!_

"Oh, be quiet."

_Soon?___

_Very soon.___

_................when.............___

_When all those other ones are busy so they won't notice.___

_I don't want to go Outside again...._

_You don't have to--he can come here now!_

_..........here.............___

_Yes, here._

_Where is...........here................_

_Here is here.  Here isn't Outside._

_Is it almost time?_

_Just a little longer--almost._

_.................almost.........___

"These scalpels are really dull..."

Yugi was poking himself with one of the scalpels to see whether or not it was sharp.

"Ow--these scissors are pretty sharp, though."

Joey had ended up being Yugi's lab partner because no one else would agree to partner someone who was so bad at biology.

"Uh, Yug?  Are you sure that's a good way to check if something's sharp or not?"

Yugi looked mystified.  "Why wouldn't it be?"

_Because you could cut yourself?___

"Oh right...."

"Okay, people, here's the frogs...every pair come get one....remember to look for the organs we talked about!"

"We talked out about the organs?"

"Yeah, two minutes ago."

"Oh.  That would explain why I don't remember it."

_Okay, so maybe you _did_ need to pay attention._

_......soon?___

_WAIT!  I'll tell you when!_

_.........but.......how soon?___

_..............how soon......................_

_Soon.__  It's almost time now--all those other ones are busy._

_So, almost?___

_Almost.___

_...............almost............___

"I wish I didn't have to cut this up...."

_It's already dead.  It's not like you're hurting it._

"Yeah, I know."

"Yug?  Who are you talking to?"

"Uh--nobody......"

_I can't believe people buy that._

"Well, they just think I'm crazy...."

_I guess that's a pretty good explanation too._

_Now?___

_Not YET, wait!_

_............soon...........?___

_Soon.__  Just not yet._

_HOW soon?_

_VERY soon.___

_Well, when?_

_............_

_WHEN?_

_....................._

_WHEN WHEN WHEN?_

_.........now!_

_Now?___

_Yes, now!  
Oh.....okay....._

Yugi barely even noticed leaving his own World; no one else noticed either.  He only realized he had returned to the place where the strangers lived (at least, he thought it was--they never really said that) when he looked up.  

"Hello........"

"Hello, Getsu."

".....getsu?"

"Yeah--you guys never told me your names, so I made some up to keep you straight."

".....straight?"

"You know--so I wouldn't get you confused."

"That's.....confusing...."

"Well, never mind.  Do you live here?"

"I don't know......it's much nicer than Outside....don't you think?"

"I like Outside--that's where I live."

The creature (he couldn't think of any better word to describe it) looked curiously at Yugi.

"Why do you live there?"

Yugi was completely thrown by this odd question.

"Well--because it's my home.  I just...belong there.  Like you belong here, I guess."

"......but you DON'T belong there--she told us about that!"

"And what did she tell you?"

"She said--she said that since you can see us and hear us and talk to us and come here--since you can--you're like us!"

"But--I'm not like you!  I can't be like you."

".........why not?"

Yugi had to think about this one.

"Well....I'm not nobody, and I don't come from nowhere.  I'm somebody--I have a name of my own."

"Now I have one too......you gave me a name....."

"I never thought of it like that.....I guess you're right--I _did_ give you name...."

"........can I keep it?"

"I....guess so....if you really want it...."

Getsu smiled.  "Now.....I have a name...."

He looked down suddenly.  "But.....I can't keep it....names are bad.  Very bad.  You shouldn't keep yours either."

"But--names aren't _bad_.  I like my name--I would never give it away."

"You SHOULD.  It's BAD.  No one here has names.  Master doesn't either."

Yugi had a feeling he had hit upon something important.

"What's Master like?"

"...........like?"

"Who is he?"

"Master....he's....he's Master...."

"Is he in charge of you?"

"No.....he's just Master..."

"What is he the master _of_?"

"Master....of?"

"When you're a master, you have command over something.  What does Master command?"

"Master....doesn't command anything...Master is like us....but.....Master is always.....always..."

"Always _what_?"

"Always......sad................."

"But why?"

"Don't.....know..........Master is Master.  Master knows you, too."

"He does?  How?"

"You met Master.  But, you didn't understand then.  Now you do....now you can see us, so you're like us.  Master knows you....you're.....you're.......you're......................"

"I'm _what_?"

"You're Master's......................friend.........."

Yugi couldn't know that Getsu had to remember every single thing Yugi was prompting him to say; he didn't realize that this almost-being had long forgotten words like sad or friend.  He _did_ know that he was getting somewhere.

"So, Master lives in this place like you do?"

"..........yes."

"Where is this place?"  
"It's....just _here_....it's not Outside...there's The Place."

"What is The Place?"

"The Place.....it's.....it's there.....sometimes we go there....we see things.....just things......sometimes there isn't anything to see.  We just go there.  We meet you there too.  We can find you there."

Now Yugi asked the most important question, at least to his mind.

"Why do you want to find me?"

"Because......you're one of us."

"No--I'm not!"

"Yes you are.  You're like us.  You can see us.  You can talk to us.  You can come here.  You're one of us, and you belong here, not Outside.  Come with us!"

".....no!"

At that moment, Yugi unknowingly brought himself back to his own World, and stabbed himself in the palm of the hand with the scalpel he was holding at the same time.  He hadn't intended to--the force of his answer to Getsu had caused him to do so.

"Ah!"

Slamming a dull scalpel into your hand is extremely painful, as Yugi had just discovered.  Pulling the blade out, he clenched his fist to stop it from bleeding.

_I told you not to stab yourself with sharp stuff!_

"I didn't mean to....ah!"

"Huh?  What's wrong, Yug?"

"Nothing....just stabbed myself by accident..."

"WHAT?"  
"It's no big deal.....I'll just bind this up....."

Ripping off part of his coat, which was already falling apart from previous Multiverse travels, he did just that.  By this time, however, his teacher had noticed that there was blood all over the table and come over to investigate.

"How did all this blood get here?"

He regretted asking almost immediately.

"Oh, it's nothing...I accidentally stabbed myself, but I bandaged it.  See?"

Yugi's coat, covered in stains and dirt, was not the best bandage for a deep puncture wound.

"Go to the nurse and get a BANdage Yugi, don't use your COAT, it's filthy, that cut could get inFECted!"

_Even I could've told him that_.__

Yugi left, his hand still hurting, wondering when the strange, nameless people would strike next.  How many more injuries would he receive before they were done?

Author's note: if you think Yugi's biology teacher is unrealistic, I based his speech loosely on my old science teacher, who really did say "people" about every two words and told us stories of his watermelon garden, his hedges, and anything else that came to mind.  This science class was also based on mine, although no one got stabbed when I dissected frogs.  And of course the Lost weren't around to interfere either.  -____-'''  And yes, I know Yugi seems really stupid in this chapter because he's stabbing himself with a scissor deliberately, but he's not THAT stupid--he's just not very focused right now.  -___________________-'''''''''  Hope you liked this chapter and will **review** now!  ^____^


	11. Can You See?

Author's note:  Thanks for reviewing, Serafinamoon!  Yeah, Yami is a little psychotic.  You had as many weird teachers as I did…well, they aren't exactly dragging Yugi into the Realm of the Lost—Yugi has kind of a weak attachment to his physical body.  That's what you get for talking to spirits all the time…as to him being psychotic…that's not entirely his fault.  Having someone no one else can see talk to you makes you look crazy, eh?  If the first part you mean is the first section, it's all connected…I just can't say how! Hope you like this chapter (even if it is pretty creepy). 

Chapter 11--Can You See?

_He doesn't believe us..._

_He will--he'll understand sometime._

_........sometime?___

_Yes--we just have to convince him.  Master knows him, he must be like us._

_..........sometime......when?_

_How much longer do we have to explain?  When will he understand?_

_Fine--I'll go talk to him myself if you want it to be soon.....he can come here--to The Place._

_........The Place.......might be..........._

_............................dangerous..........._

_Yeah--dangerous.___

_Why?  We come here lots._

_But.....it's so close...what if...._

_It won't happen.  It almost never happens._

_But.....what if....._

_............last time.........._

_But it probably won't happen now--that was before....._

_But....if one of them comes through....___

_If you're scared I'll go!_

_Be CAREFUL...._

_.......yes..........careful....._

_Don't worry--they can't hurt us._

_If you say so.....___

_..............good luck............._

"If only I could remember..."

Yugi was trying to figure out who the strangers really were; Getsu had said that he was Master's friend, and something about that rang a bell in Yugi's memory...but what?  Yugi was sure he knew who Master was now, but he couldn't seem to remember.  He was sure that it hadn't been so long ago...but when could he have met the mysterious Master?  He would certainly remember the strange place where the people kept taking him if he had seen it before!  It was unlike any other place he'd ever seen...or was it?

*flashback*

It was a whirling vortex, like a red-purple-black tornado buried in the ground.  Around and around it swirled, its rim flashing before Yugi's eyes.  He didn't know where he was, or how he had gotten there; the last thing he remembered was...

_Who are you?_

A voice!  Who could have spoken, in this empty, colorless landscape?  Yugi looked around, but there was no one there.

_Who are you?_

Yugi looked at the swirling vortex.  It couldn't be....could it?

_Who are you?_

"....my name is Yugi.  Who are you?"

_I don't know._

"How did you get here?"

_I have always been here....or wait--perhaps not?  I do not know...my identity is unknown to me; I am nothing...yet still I must be something, or how else am I here...?  They call me Master, I know not why.  What am I Master of?  Them?  No...they do not know me.  No one does....no one wishes to._

Yugi didn't know who or what he was talking to, but he couldn't help feeling sorry for it; it sounded lonely.

"Well--I'd want to know you."

_....why?_

"I don't know...I still don't really know who you are."

_I cannot tell you who I am....I don't know myself.  But, I am here, as I have always been--an eye within...always watching, but there is nothing to see.  No one would dare to look upon me, and so I see nothing._

"Why won't anyone look at you?"

_Even if they knew that I existed, still they would hate me...I am a shadow of doom on the horizon to them...._

"I don't hate you."

_You are not yet aware of what I am, so you cannot logically hate me...but since when is hate logical?  Since when is malice governed by order..._

Yugi was curious about this mysterious, miserable creature.  Stepping to the edge of the vortex, he looked down into it.

            At the bottom of the swirling light was a single eye.

In the instant that he looked at it, the eye turned to focus on Yugi.  Its black pupil seemed to expand until it filled all eternity.  There was a single light...but within that light, there was--

Yugi later remembered nothing else.

*end flashback*

"...that's it!"

_What's what?_

Completely forgetting that he had never told Yami about the people who were talking to him, Yugi tried to explain what he had just realized.

"That's who they are!  I didn't remember before, but he was right!"

_Who're they, what didn't you remember when, who is he, and what was he right about?_

"Those people--they were...."

_Now?___

_Yes, now._

_....sure?___

_YES!_

_Well.....be CAREful...you know what could happen...._

_Don't worry--everything will be fine...._

"Hello, Yugi."

"Hello, Hikari."

They were back in the Realm of the Lost, although neither knew it by that name.  Yugi had never seen this part of it before; it was what the Lost referred to as "The Place."  Unbeknowest to them, The Place was actually the overlap between the Realm, the Wilds, and the Multiverse; here, they all touched, and it could create some dangerous side effects...

"....why do call me that?"

"Oh--you said you didn't have a name, so I made one up."

"Oh....well, names are bad, you know.  Only people Outside have them..."

"Hikari, I AM a person Outside."

She smiled benignly.

"No you aren't.  You're one of us.  I know that's true because it is, and no matter how many times you say you don't belong here, you DO."

"I keep telling you, I _can't_ belong here!  I live Outside--that's my home!"

She looked at him curiously.

"Why do you belong there?"

"Well--because I just DO."

"No, you don't.  There's nobody like you there, so how can you belong there?  I know you're going to say that you DO, so you don't have to tell me."

"But..."

"It doesn't matter what you say, I'm still right!"

Yugi knew he would never convince the stubborn Hikari that he wasn't one of them; instead, he looked around.

"Where is this place?  I've never been here before..."  
"Oh, this is The Place.  We come here sometimes, you know...we see things if we feel like it.  Usually it's all boring though--we don't care about the Outside.  You're the only one we've ever talked to."

"What do you mean, you see things?"

"Well, The Place...you can go through it...but we don't.  We never do...I think we can't.  Yes.....that's what I think.  Once something else did, but it went away.  There were people once...but they weren't HERE.  And there was something....something....I don't know what.  It's still there somewhere, I guess....but it's safe.  Things don't come through too much."

"Things....come through?  What kind of things?"

"Well, sometimes Outside things--they're very....angry.  Yes, they're angry.  Because they don't know where they are, you see.  THEY aren't much like us--they usually go back anyway.  Things don't come here much....you shouldn't worry about it."

Hikari, however, was wrong.  The Realm of the Lost is not a place one easily wanders into; in order to get there from the Multiverse, you either have to know about it or be Lost yourself.

            Getting there from the Wilds is a different story.

At this moment, something _was_ entering the Realm--and it wasn't happy.  It had meant to go into the Wilds to harvest some energy, but it had accidentaly crossed the border between Wilds and Realm.  It wouldn't have been stuck there very long, but it decided to vent its spleed on any living creature nearby all the same.

"Wait--what's that!?"

"Oh....that's a thing.  I guess....I guess maybe they come through more than I thought."

"Is it...dangerous?"

"Oh, no....I don't THINK so...."

The thing in question formed a serated throwing knife from the matter it had already harvested; it was not in the best of moods.  Shrieking unitelligibly (it was a demon), it pulled back its "hand" to throw the knife at Hikari.  The blade probably wouldn't have hurt her; she had no body left to wound.

Yugi didn't know that.

"Hikari, look out!"

Foolishly (but bravely) shoving her aside, Yugi was struck by the weapon instead; at that moment, the demon phased back into the Wilds, and then into the Multiverse.  Its timing was unlucky for our hero; unlike Hikari, Yugi _did_ have a physical body, and even though his mind was separated from it at the moment, they were still bound together.

The people back in Yugi's World didn't know that any of this was happening; all they knew was that one minute everything was progressing normally, the next some kid was bleeding all over the place without any visible weapon or injury.

Some say that the dying are granted clear site; Yugi wasn't dying, but he certainly knew what was about to happen to him.  He also knew that no one would be able to figure out what had happened to him if he didn't hurry, but how could he explain now?  He was losing blood quickly--soon, he was completely conconcious.

Luckily, even people who are assumed to be crazy get medical attention; Yugi was taken to a hospital.  The paramedics assumed that he had been stabbed, judging by the shape of the wound; only two things puzzled them.

The first was the lack of a weapon or an attacker; the second was downright bizarre.

On the floor, in blood, were written three words.

_CAN YOU SEE?_


	12. Fading Away

Author's note:  Thanks for reviewing, Serafinamoon!  Heh, Yugi is pretty short.  He has a weak attachment to his body because he got possessed and almost lost his soul…it makes sense, at least I hope so…-____-'''  Oops…darn, I thought I fixed all the typos!  Yes, that was supposed to be unconscious.  It is freaky—just imagine how the ordinary, non-Mutiverse-traveling people feel!  ^______^

Chapter 12--Fading Away

_...something came?_

_Yes.  I didn't think it would...and anyway they aren't dangerous._

_.............aren't?......._

_Yes they are..._

_Well they can't HURT you._

_They're still dangerous!_

_I didn't think anything would happen!_

_................what now..........._

_What do we do next?_

_Now we have to go talk to that one._

_But you just did!_

_..........why............._

_Because now he's HERE.  By himself.  We have to go talk to him._

_WHY?_

_...............why...................?_

_BECAUSE.  Now he has to see that we're right--he's HERE._

_Said that before....._

_..........didn't work.............._

_Now it will because he's here by himself.  If he can come here without us, that means he's one of us._

_Are you sure?_

_...............sure.........this time..........?_

_Yes.  Now come on!  We have to hurry....._

Yugi's mind was indeed within the Realm of the Lost, but not like it had been before.  Before, Yugi had maintained some connection to his physical body; this time, that connection had been weakened severely.  Back in his World, he was perplexing numerous doctors, who had never seen any case like this one.  Yugi's friends were also puzzled, but they at least expected that.

"I've never seen anything like it in my entire career--not even the most severe comatose patients have this low a heart rate..."

The poor doctor had good reason to be confused; the separation of mind from body produces a coma-like state in which all body functions are reduced to minimum levels.  Breathing slows to almost undetectable, heart rate lowers to an almost impossible level...it could even be mistaken for death if you weren't careful.  No one in Yugi's World, of course, would know this; they didn't even know that the mind _could_ be completely separated from the body without death.  Yugi's friends did know this, but they couldn't explain this to a bunch of doctors; it would break one the most important Multiversial laws: never tell the people of a World that doesn't know about other Worlds that other Worlds exist.  They, of course, had their own theories as to what was going on; since none of them knew about the Lost, however, none of them were right.

"Okay, we know this couldn't have been something from our World, right?  I mean...no weapon, no attacker..."

"But why would someone in another World want to kill Yugi?"

"How should I know?  Hey--you don't think this has something to do with the Overlord, do you?"

"It has to, doesn't it?  Who else would attack Yugi?"

"Still...even those Chaos things can be seen, can't they?  What kind of creature could be completely invisible?"

Tea thought about this for a minute.  "I bet this has something to do with that _spirit_..."

"Huh?"

"Never mind...."

Tea wasn't completely wrong; "that spirit" was involved, although Yami was not actually at fault.  In fact, he wasn't there at all.

Yugi's mind, having entered the Realm of the Lost, was hovering around The Place; it was the point closest to the Multiverse.  The Lost, of course, thought this was a little dangerous.

"....come on.  You shouldn't stay here.  It's dangerous."

"But..."

"Come with us.  Come!"

The Lost grabbed Yugi's hands and pulled him off in another direction.  Not that it mattered; minds rarely stay at The Place for long.  It is a gateway, not a rest stop.

The Lost weren't completely sure how Yugi had gotten to the Realm without them compelling him, but they didn't care about the details.  What mattered for them was that it proved them right.  Yugi, of course, still disagreed with this.

"See?  We were right!"

"....about what?"

"About YOU!"

"Not this again..."

"You ARE one of us.  You ARE.  You're HERE, aren't you?"

"....she's right......you're............here........................."

"Yes...you came here by yourself.  That means...you're like us.  You're one of us...."

"No, I'm not!  Give me one good reason why I should believe you."

Hikari smiled vacantly; she had several reasons, and she didn't have any definition of a good one.

"You're like us because you can see us and talk to us.  No one can do that except us, but you can.  That means that you're like us, and that means that you're one of us.  You can come here when we call you.  And now, you came here by yourself.  No one can come here by themselves unless they're like us.  Sometimes they come...other ones.  They're like us.  They stay here.  They know that they belong here.....you should know that too."

What Hikari said was not strictly true, but that didn't matter.  The sheer force of her belief in this idea was enough.  Yugi still knew consciously that he wasn't a Lost, but being in the Realm of the Lost separated from his physical body, added to the Lost's continual insistence that he WAS one of them, was starting to take its tole.  It was hard not to at least consider their arguments; it was almost impossible to refute them, since they didn't rely on logic or facts.  Yugi's resolve was weakening.

Meanwhile, another unknown mind had entered the Realm of the Lost.  The Lost didn't notice it; they were busy trying to convince Yugi that he was a Lost (they were also succeeding).  Yami didn't know where he was or how he had gotten there, but he had a hunch.  He knew that Yugi's mind had become separated from his body, and he knew that his own mind was connected to Yugi's.  Therefore, he reasoned, if he was here inexplicably, Yugi might be here too.  In light of this, he started walking in a straight line; after all, he would get somewhere eventually.  In the Multiverse, this might have worked.  In the Realm of the Lost, however, there was no such thing as somewhere.

"But...I don't think I can be one of you.  I live somewhere else--I don't belong here!"

"Sure you do.  You just didn't know it until now.  That's how it works for everyone--one day you just come here."

"Yes.....that's right.  Now you've come here too.  You should stay.  It's much nicer than Outside."

".............yes........you should.........stay.........."

"Even if I did belong here, I couldn't stay here.  In my World, people notice when you just disappear."

The Lost did not appear concerned; on the contrary, they seemed to find this amusing.

"Oh, no one will care.  They might wonder what happened to you for a while, but it won't matter...."

"Outside...there's no reason to stay there.  Why would you want to?"

".......why........."

"Well--because it's my home."

"But it ISN'T.  THIS is where you belong.  You just thought you belonged Outside.  You don't really."

".....that doesn't make sense......it's impossible......"

"No it isn't.  We're right.  If you really belonged there, people would remember you and they would know that you were gone.  If they haven't noticed now, they won't notice when you stay here either."

"Yes....it makes sense because it does.  If you really belonged Outside then someone there would want you to stay like we want you to stay here.  No one Outside is asking you to stay there.  They don't care what happens to you."

".........yes......"

The Lost were being rather unfair to the people "Outside," but they didn't know that.  They thought what they were saying made perfect sense.  It didn't make any sense in reality, but that didn't matter.  All that was important was that it was almost impossible not to believe them.  What they were saying seemed very logical; after all, there was no evidence to the contrary.  Yugi was starting to believe them, and as he did, he also started to lose both mental and visible clarity.  In other words, the more Yugi believed that he was one of the Lost, the less he was able to think clearly and remember things, and the less he looked like himself.  He was, in fact, becoming a Lost, but there was still hope for him--he still vaguely remembered what was going on, and he still believed that he was himself.

Unfortunately, this belief was very fragile.

At this point, the Lost sensed trouble--or at least what they would consider to be trouble--coming in the form of and Outsider.  To make matters worse (at least for them), this Outsider was the "other one" who had threatened them before.  

Yugi, of course, wasn't completely sure whether or not the Lost were right about him; he wanted to prove them wrong.  He also didn't  know that he had visually changed in appearance because of his uncertainty about himself.  So, when Yami wandered by (still walking in a straight line in the hopes of getting somewhere), neither of them was completely sure what was going on.  He didn't notice any of the Lost (or Yugi), and even if he had, he probably wouldn't have recognized them.  Yugi, although his memories and identity were growing vaguer, _did_ recognize Yami, and he was very happy to have remembered something.

"Wait--I know you!"

The scene was very different in each of the three viewpoints present: for the Lost, it was a matter of being proven right and keeping Yugi in the Realm of the Lost, where they thought he belonged; theirs was the most detached outlook.  For Yami, the scene was merely bizarre; a weird, non-visible stranger who thought he knew him. 

For Yugi, it was a matter of identity.  If he really wasn't a Lost, then someone--anyone--from his World would recognize and remember him.  At this point, of course, that wasn't likely to happen.

Yami stopped, turning around.  At first, he didn't see anything; then he noticed a vaguely humanoid patch of mist, much the same color as everything else in the Realm of the Lost (or, as he thought of it, a weird, empty flat place).

"Who--_what_ are you, and why do you think you know me?"

Yugi, of course, was becoming slightly Lost; he didn't answer this question very logically.

"I'm ME."

"Look, I don't know who you are or how you got here, but you can't possibly know me!"

"But--I DO know you!  I can prove it, I know your name--Yami."

Yami, of course, was immediately suspicious of anyone who knew his name.

"Who are you, and how did you know that?"

"Because I know you!"

Yami was not a patient person at the best of times; he pulled out his knife.

"Tell me who you are or I swear I'll kill you."

Yugi had seen that blade turned against other people, but he had never had to face it himself.

"I'm me--Yugi!"

If Yugi had thought that this would somehow help, he was wrong.

"No, you aren't!"

"I'm...not?"  
"You're not."

"But....why?"

"Because if you were Yugi--which you aren't--I would know!"

This seemed logical enough to Yugi; he still had a feeling that he knew this person (by now he had forgotten the name), so he was inclined to believe him.

"But then...who am I?"

Yami still couldn't figure out who or what this mysterious stranger (he thought) was, but he thought it might be dangerous.

"I don't know who you are, and I can't say I really care.  I do know that if we ever meet again, this blade goes through your throat.  Got that?"

"Oh....okay...."

With that, Yugi disappeared.  Back in his own World, his friends noticed this too.  They were very surprised, and very frightened.

"Wait--what's happening!?"

Yugi's physical body, now that he had decided he was a Lost, was fading away, or rather fading into the Realm of the Lost.  To his friends, it looked like he was disappearing.  

"Did you just see that!?"

"I keep hopin' I didn't."

"Tell me that did not just happen."

"How is it even possible...for someone to just--disappear?"

"And what are we going to do about it?"

Yugi's friends didn't know what to do, or what had happened; at the moment, neither did Yami.  It had just occurred to him that someone who knew his name, and knew that he knew Yugi, must have some connection to one of them.  He was puzzled until he remembered something--the strange people he had spoken to.  They had said they wanted to talk to Yugi, but he forgotten about them--until now.  They had also said that they were nobody...at the time, this hadn't seemed important.  But what if they hadn't always been nobody--what if they had simply forgotten who they were?  But that would mean....

Yami whacked himself in the head.  "Ah!  I am such an idiot!"

With that, he ran off deeper into the Realm of the Lost, not knowing where he was headed, but knowing that he had to find Yugi before it was too late.


	13. The Truth

Author's note: This chapter contains a LOT of information--it's very confusing, and it's very long, so all I ask is that you DO read it, because it's very, very important; it actually explains what's going on.  Sorry that it's so confusing, the Multiverse (and especially the Lost) are like that!  After this, I promise, no more really, really long explanations about the nature of reality.  Serafinamoon, thank you so much for reviewing so quickly!!!  You've inspired me to write this chapter and post it quickly!  Yeah, the whole thing is confusing, but don't worry--this chapter kind of explains things.  I hope.  It made sense to me, so hopefully it will make sense to other people!!!  How Yugi can become a Lost is partially explained in this chapter, but the main reason is that he makes the mistake of believing the Lost.  He consciously knows that they're wrong, but subconsciously, some of what they say seems true.  So, because his mind is weakly connected to his physical body (at least less so than most people), he can more easily travel to the Realm of the Lost.  That isn't the problem, though.  The final straw was probably that Yami told him he wasn't himself, and of course Yugi believed him, causing him to become more Lost.  And, Yugi is indeed the one with the power to stop the Overlord.  I won't say what exactly that power is or the way the Overlord could potentially be stopped, but Yugi definitely has it.  He couldn't stop the Overlord if he became a Lost, but hopefully he can still be saved....thank you again for reviewing, I hope this chapter explains stuff a bit!

Chapter 13--The Truth

            Yugi's friends (and multiple doctors) were completely confused.  Yugi's friends feared the worst, or at least what they considered to be the worst--that Yugi had been recaptured by the Overlord.  They had no idea that their friend was in danger of suffering a much worse fate.  Someone else, however, did.

The Star Warriors have strong abilities to sense when someone they mark as their own is in danger.  Right now, Yugi was  very much in danger, and that someone else realized it.

Vice was coming!

            Yugi's friends, meanwhile, were leaving to tell his grandfather that he had mysteriously disappeared.  Doctors had called police, who thought, for lack of a better explanation, that Yugi had been kidnapped; disappearing children was beyond the scope of their work.  Yugi's grandfather could, of course, be told about things related to the Multiverse, but he wouldn't believe any of them; he was in complete denial about other Worlds.  Thus, the best explanation Yugi's friends could give was that he had disappeared and they didn't know why.  Needless to say, no parent or grandparent really wants to hear this.  Before further explanation could be given (and disbelieved), however, one of the front windows burst open in a flash of silvery light, and a large falcon flew in and changed into Vice.  Yugi's friends were more surprised by his sudden appearance than his shape-change; they had seen some of his magical abilities before.  They were very glad to see him, mostly because they had a feeling that if anyone could explain things he could.  Vice had never yet let them down (as far as they were concerned), and they were sure he would know what to do.  First, of course, he needed to know what was going on.  Closing the window, he smiled at them.

"Sorry to drop in on you.  What's going on and where's Yugi?"

Yugi's grandfather just stared in silence; seeing a bird turn into a man can have this effect.  Yugi's friends, of course, were less tongue-tied.

"Yugi disappeared!"

This conveyed no information to an experienced Multiverse traveler like Vice--he knew that there are many ways to disappear, not all of them otherworldly.

"Define 'disappeared.'"

"He was in the hospital--"

"Whoa, whoa--back up.  Start at the beginning."

"Oh, right!  The beginning--that would be...that would be...well....uh..."

Vice looked slightly perturbed.

"Please tell me you have any idea what's going on."

"Uh......"

"Well, Yugi got stabbed or something, or at least he was bleeding but there wasn't any weapon, and then he just kind of...disappeared.  You know, vanished."

Vice thought about this carefully.

"Vanished how?  I need details--different accompanying effects are produced by different methods."

"..........huh?"

"Different ways of making people disappear create different side-effects.  How exactly did Yugi vanish?"

"Well...he kind of...faded."

They were very surprised to see Vice stare at them for a moment, then turn to Yugi's grandfather.

"Did you happen to light any candles at the time?"

Yugi's grandfather stared at him for a long moment, then mutely shook his head.  Vice sighed frustratedly, then took a candle out of his bag and lit it magically.

"I don't know how much good it will do now, of course...but it's worth a try."

"Uh...Vice?  What's with the candle?  Is it...magic?"

Vice looked up vaguely.

"Huh?  Oh...kind of...it's a spirit candle...this is only the third time I've lit it...it really only helps if you light it right before someone loses contact with themselves...of course, this is a special situation...I've never really done this before."

Yugi's friends were slightly panicked.

"Done _what_?  What might not work?'

"Yeah--what's going on anyway?"

"Tell us, man!"

Vice whistled sharply, and another falcon (this time a real one) Gated in and settled on his shoulder.

"I'm not entirely sure...but judging from Yugi's disappearance, I'd say this has something to do with the Lost.  They're among the only beings that fade entirely as they change..."

"Change...into what?"

"Into Lost, of course.  Where did you think they came from?"

"Hang on a sec--who's lost?"

Vice ran a hand through his hair, seeking an answer.

"What are the Lost, you mean.  There's no 'who' about them.  Let me explain....

            You know about Truenames, right?  A Truename is a name bound to your soul.  Some cultures--like mine--give them at birth, choosing names that reflect essence.  Other Worlds, such as yours, give names to children at birth, and those names gradually become your own as you live under them.  They become bound to your soul not because they are made to represent you, but because you make them your representation.  These names are powerful--if the wrong person learns your name, they could potentially destroy it.  That isn't the only way to lose your name, of course...there is another.

            Some people--I'm sure you've met at least a few--are always seeking to become something they are not.  They seek to deny themselves, to live under a new identity that is no longer their own.  Many people live like this all their lives, never realizing that in the search for a suitable face, they have gained a mask for every occasion, and retain no faces at all.  They don't know that they have denied their names by living an identity not belonging to them.  Sometimes, however, this is taken to such an extreme that the consequences become dire.  Deny your name deeply enough, and you can lose it forever.

            Understand when I say this that losing your name through neglect is much more than forgetting it.  You also forget that you have forgotten it, forget that such a thing was ever yours.  You forget your identity entirely through denial of it.  Once this happens, you cease to be whatever you were.  You become a Lost.  The Lost cannot easily exist in the Multiverse--it is a place where things are defined as something, and that something is what they are.  The Lost are the essence of nothingness; they don't belong here anymore.  What remains of the matter, energy, and consciousness that made them up fades away, into a new place--the Realm of the Lost.  There they remain, until they fade even further in their most basic components of matter and energy.  The consciousness that made them who they are is irretrievably lost at this point; before then, it's possible to regain your identity if someone who remembers you as who and what you were returns your Truename to you.  It isn't as easy as it sounds--to restore a Lost, you must have seen that person so clearly in life that you can recognize them even when they have lost all semblance of themselves.  To see like that...it's almost impossible to know someone so well.  That's why the Lost stay in their Realm and most conscious beings stay in the Multiverse.  Get it?"

Everyone sat in a slightly vegetative state, trying to take in this information.  Finally, Tea stirred.

"Vice...where is the Realm of the Lost?"

"It's not in the Multiverse.  In fact, it's connected to the Wilds AND the Multiverse.  So, in a sense, it's more of an overlap than anything.

"Uh, Vice?  What're the Wilds?"

"Yeah--and I still don't get this whole 'Realm of the Lost' thing."

Vice smiled proudly--he had thought of what he considered to be an excellent explanation of everything.

"Look at it this way...

            The Multiverse is like a bowl of jello.  Well, a bowl of jello full of marbles wrapped in cellophane, with the cellophane sticking to it in one part.  The worlds are the marbles, the Outside is the jello, the cellophane is the Wilds, and the sticking-down part is the Realm of the Lost.  _Now_ do you get it?"

".....no....."

Vice was taken aback--he didn't know quite what to say.

"Look--all you need to know is that Wilds are a place, a very different kind of place than the Worlds, and they're full of matter, energy, and whatever else might make up everything in existence.  Whenever a World dies or is destroyed, all the matter and energy has to go somewhere.  That somewhere is the Wilds.  When a World is created, that's where the matter and energy comes from.  The Realm is a part of the Wilds, but it's a little different--it's separated from it, and the matter and energy there is more...apathetic, I suppose.  Once the Lost revert to their most basic state, their remains return to the Wilds.  There's something else in the Realm, too....the Eye of the Void.  But you don't need to know about that; what you do need to know is that I believe Yugi may have started becoming one of the Lost."

Tea, Joey, and Tristan waved all of the complicated information aside and focused on the last bit--it was something they could understand.

"You're saying Yugi forgot who he is?"

"And now he's going to disappear _forever_?"

"What are we gonna do!?"

Vice held up his hands.

"Wait, wait.  Yugi may not become entirely Lost--he has a major advantage over most of the Lost."

".....what is it?"

Vice smiled reminiscently.

"In my culture--or at least the parts of Dark World that have a culture--it is customary to give gifts to a newborn child and its parents.  Back when I knew Yugi's parents and we were all fighting together, my friend Gashiru and I gave them a gift.  Since we had nothing of material value, and we knew that even before their child was born the Overlord would want to destroy it if he could, we gave them a gift of protection--a name.  Yugi's name can never be taken from him by force; it is bound to him deeply enough that it can only be lost in one way--self-denial.  Since Yugi can't have lost his name unless he deliberately decided to deny it, there's still hope for him.  There's only one danger...

            I don't know much about the Lost--there isn't much documented information about them.  But...as far as I know, the loss of their names produces a sub-conscious kind of fear towards them--they think there's something _bad_ about having a name.  If they convince Yugi of that...his name--and his identity--could be in danger."

"Come on--who would believe that having a name is dangerous?"

Vice looked grim.

"When you're forgetting everything that you are, illogical things can be very convincing."

"Well, what are we sittin' around talkin' for?  We have to rescue Yugi!"

Vice looked at them sharply.

"No.  Above all, you _must not _try to find Yugi.  There is nothing you can do to help him now.  Even if you could get to the Realm of the Lost without inflicting physical and mental damage to yourself--which you can't--you would never find him.  You don't know him well enough to see him clearly."

"But--we know Yugi better than anyone!  If we can't help him, who can?"

Vice looked sad.

"You don't know Yugi as well as you think.  Death changes things so much...so does being a Guardian...most Guardians I've met are closer to their Guardian partners than anyone else.  There's only one person who can help Yugi now...I only hope he knows what he's doing."


	14. Soon Enough

Author's note:  Thank you so much for taking your half-day to review me, Serafinamoon!  Yay, I'm so glad you understood chapter 13—I thought it was super confusing (even to me!).  Heh, I've had to do those critique-review sheet things too.  Yeah, Yugi has to be saved from being a lost or the whole Multiverse could be doomed to a horrible fate at the hands of the Overlord, and the only one who can save him is Yami.  Whether he'll be able to do it is a whole other thing…^___^;; Yes, Vice is a recurring character—he's pretty important, and he DID swear an oath to protect Yugi and all.  Well, you don't really have to UNDERSTAND the bowl of jello analogy—Vice thought it was a good idea (actually I thought that up with my brother).  Cellophane is that clear plastic wrap stuff you put around things…isn't it?  I think so…thank you again for reading and reviewing!  ^____^ 

Chapter 14--Soon Enough

            Yugi frowned.  Even now, he wasn't totally sure that the Lost were correct, and their latest assertion was something he couldn't agree with.  Hikari, the most assertive and pushy of the Lost, however, was obstinate to the last.  The other Lost backed her up; their topic of discussion (or maybe argument) was something they could understand.

They were talking about names.

"You SHOULDN'T have a name.  Names are BAD."

It was this that was so troubling Yugi.  Although his memory was hazy at best, the core of his identity remained because he had not yet lost his name.  He believed very strongly that names were a good thing, although he wasn't sure _why_ he believed it.

"I don't know..."

"Oh, she's right," Getsu said reassuringly.  "Names will only hurt you."

"But...my name never hurt me........"

Yoru shrugged, or at least it seemed like it; his misty outline made it hard to tell.  ".....maybe....maybe not...."

Yugi was mystified.  "What do you mean?"

The hazy creature paused for a moment, summoning what thoughts he had for an extended explanation.

"It...DID hurt you...you weren't...........weren't............happy.....you were....like Master....always......always.....alone....................."

Hikari and Getsu nodded vigorously, glad to have what they considered evidence on their side.

"Oh, yes.  You weren't happy.  Your mind was full of people who weren't anywhere.  You never talked to them or saw them.  The people you talked to a lot aren't here.  They never cared what was happening to you.  WE saw those people in your mind.  WE did.  THEY didn't.  That other one--he said he would kill you.  Your name only hurt you."

"Yes...when you lived Outside with that name...you were always sad....like Master...."

Yugi didn't want to agree with them; what little he remembered of his former life was all the identity he had.  And yet...what they said undeniably had some truth to it.

"But......."

"But nothing.  Names are bad and you should just forget yours.  WE don't have names, and we're all right."

"But...I don't know if I _can_ forget my name...I'm so used to having it...how can I just...forget?"

Hikari nodded sympathetically.  "It's okay.  Sometimes, people who come here still have names at first.  They have trouble forgetting too.  Getsu used to have a name, didn't you?"

"Yes....I think....it was a long time ago, maybe.  I used to have one...at first it seems hard to live without it...but it isn't...it's not as hard as it seems....after all...what is a name?  It doesn't mean anything...it's just word, so why should it hurt you?  Having a name...it binds you to someplace or something or someone.  It makes you belong to somewhere...why should you have to be bound to something by a word that doesn't even mean anything?  You just stop using it....and after a while...you just forget about it...because you don't NEED it...so it just goes away...and you don't have to remember ever again...."

Hikari gave a sickly smile, her eyes flat and blank.  "Don't worry--you'll forget your name soon enough..."

Yugi shook his head.  "But I've always had a name!  I don't know what it's like not to...I can't just not be called _anything_!"

Hikari looked pensive for a moment.  Getsu and Yoru were watching her; she came up with most of their best plans.  Finally, she looked up and smiled.

"Since you've never not had to be called a name before...we'll give you a different one for now.  As long as you get used to not having _your_ name, it will still help."

Getsu and Yoru nodded admiringly (or at least, Getsu nodded and Yoru shifted in a nod-like fashion); it was a good plan.

"What do we call him?"

".....what...."

Hikari thought for a moment.  "We'll call him...Ko.  So, now you name is Ko."

Yugi looked sad; he still wasn't sure he really wanted to lose his name, and he _was_ sure that he didn't want to be called Ko instead.  It simply wasn't _his_ name, and no matter how harmful his name might be, he still liked it.

The Lost waved eagerly at him.  "Come on, Ko.  We'll show you this place--it's were we live...isn't it?"

Hikari nodded decisively.  "Yes.  Yoru, Getsu, you show Ko everything.  I have something else I need to do...."

*****

            Yami, meanwhile, was going nowhere, although it must be said that he was getting there very quickly.  Finally stopping, he thought for a moment that he was lost, then realized that since he had no idea where he was in the first place, he was lost before he started.

"How can I possibly find anything if I don't even know where I am!?"

"You can't, so why don't you just leave?"

Yami spun around.  One of those weird people who had wanted to talk to Yugi was standing behind him.  She was incredibly bizarre--entirely gray with flat, pupil-less eyes and a blank, sickly smile.  Her cloths, as gray as the rest of her, were faded and vague; it was impossible to tell what they looked like.  Yami blinked, trying to focus on her; her edges were oddly indistinct, as though she was made of mist.

"Who are you--and where is this place!?"

Hikari glared at him angrily.

"We don't want you here.  Go away!!!"

_Wait--these people wanted to talk to Yugi...she must know where he is!_

"Where is Yugi?"

Hikari shrugged in a so-so way. 

"I don't know anyone that's called Yugi.  No one here uses that name."

What she said wasn't actually a lie, but it was also deliberately not helpful.  Hikari knew full well that the one they now called Ko was actually named Yugi, but she didn't want Yami to know that--she disliked 'that other one.'  Yami wasn't usually very perceptive, but he had a feeling Hikari was lying, especially since he was positive Yugi was here, wherever here was.

"I know that you know who Yugi is, and I know that he's here, so why don't you just tell me where he is already!?"

Although Hikari disliked Yami enough to deliberately misunderstand him for days on end, she was also slightly afraid of him; she told him some of what he wanted to know, although little of it was particularly helpful.

"We don't call him that.  His name is Ko now."

Yami was confused.  Why would the Lost bother changing Yugi's name if they didn't like names in the first place?

"What?  But--why?"

Hikari rolled her eyes as though this was obvious.

"BeCAUSE.  Names are BAD.  We'll call him Ko until he gets used to not having his old name, then we won't call him anything.  He'll be much better off that way, you know.  I don't see why YOU have to come and mess everything up."

"I am not messing anything up!  I'm just trying to help Yugi!"

"I TOLD you, there's no one called Yugi here.  He's called Ko now, and you may as well leave because you aren't going to help Ko, because you're not his friend.  If you were his friend, you wouldn't have said you were going to kill him.  You're just trying to hurt Ko, so go away!"

Yami was left completely speechless by Hikari's conclusion, which, although logical, was less than accurate to say the least.  Seeing this, Hikari continued her explanation.

"You don't belong here like Ko does.  We don't want you here, and I won't let you stay here.  You'll hurt Ko.  Ko doesn't belong Outside, so he should stay here and you shouldn't."

Finally regaining the power of speech, Yami completely disagreed with her.

"Yugi does so belong where we come from, and I don't care what you want or who you tell, I'm not leaving until I find Yugi!"

Hikari's eyes narrowed.  "You'll see soon enough.  Master will get angry.  You'll be sorry."

"If your precious Master is anything like the rest of you _things_, I'm not really worried.  You don't even _have_ a name, you don't remember who you are, and there's nothing you can do to stop me.  If you try, it's _you_ who will be sorry.  Got that?"

Hikari shrugged.  "You have a name, but what good does it do you?  Your life is already bad enough--do you have to mess up Ko's too?  Why don't you go back where you belong, you _Outsider_?  We don't want you here...and if you don't get out, we'll make you leave."

With these parting words, she faded out of sight, evidently leaving for another part of the Realm.  Still angry at her, and still completely lost (not that he ever knew where he was going), Yami walked off too, determined to do something.

*****

            Unseen in the shadows, another figure, this one so vague it could hardly be seen at all, swayed at the edge of a thought.  With confusion and hoped mixed with bitter, unexplained sorrow on its face, it whispered a single word.

_..........Ko?_


	15. I Don't Belong There

Author's note: Thank you for reviewing, Mitsuko-chan and Serafinamoon!   I don't mind you not reviewing a lot, Mitsuko--I'm just happy you like the story so far! Serafina, my computer has been acting strangely too (caps lock keeps coming on randomly, I have no idea why).  Yeah, that sort of thing happens to Vice a lot--poor guy.  Yugi can't forget his name unless he decides to...but the Lost are trying VERY HARD to convince him...  Calling Yugi Ko was kind of a random decision (most things the Lost do are), but it _might_ be connected to something else, which I can't explain right now.  The voice at the end was NOT Master, but I won't say who it is--it would ruin the surprise.  Hope you like this chapter!  ^__^

Chapter 15--I Don't Belong There

            Getsu and Yoru were finished showing Yugi (or rather, Ko) the Realm of the Lost.  There wasn't much to see; just vast amounts of nothing, all of which was endlessly fascinating to the Lost but deadly boring to Yugi.  He thought that their Realm was sad--full of nothing _but_ nothing.  They had also taken him to see Master, but Master hadn't said much; Yugi remembered nothing of him, and he remembered Yugi only vaguely, so there was little to say.  Just like everything else in the Realm of the Lost.  They also took him to see The Place, but they left almost immediately because Getsu and Yoru were still frightened of what might come through.

To Yugi's disappointment, there was nothing else to see in the Realm of the Lost.

            Optimistic even with his memory a vague blur, Yugi kept hoping that something--anything--in the Realm actually _did_ something instead of just sitting around existing.  Unfortunately for him, the Realm is even worse than that.  All anything does is sit around _almost_ existing.  When Getsu and Yoru proudly completed their description of the Realm of the Lost (which consisted of less than five sentences), they stood and watched Yugi.  Yugi stood and watched them.  This could have continued for a long time if only Lost had been present, but Yugi wasn't entirely Lost yet and he wasn't interested in a staring contest where nobody ever won.

"So...what do you _do_ here?"

Getsu and Yoru looked confused.  This sort of question was still beyond them; Hikari usually explained things like this.  In her absence, however, they were forced to tackle it on their own.

"........do?"

"What's do?"  
Yugi looked faintly bemused.  He was still having trouble not knowing what things like do and why were, but the Lost said he would get used to it (of course, he wasn't sure he _wanted_ to get used to it).

"Well...it's when things happen...and you help make them happen.  It's anything that does something."

"......oh......"

"I don't know if we ever do that...."

"Guess we don't....DO.....anything...."

"Yes--we don't do."

Yugi sighed.  He had only a vague notion that he once lived somewhere where things were done almost constantly, and he missed it very much.  The Realm of the Lost isn't a bad place, but it can be frustrating to a non-Lost, or even a semi-Lost like Yugi.  While Yoru and Getsu continued to do nothing, an activity that took up most of their free time, Yugi tried to think of something to do.  His Lost-ness, however, made this rather hard; he couldn't remember anything that could be done.  In light of this, he stood and waited with the other two Lost, thinking that at least standing was some kind of action.  In the Realm of the Lost, of course, you don't really _stand_--if you're anything at all, you simply _are.  _Yugi, however, didn't know this, and even if he had he had nothing else to do, which is part of the reason he was so Lost in the first place; behaving like a Lost only reinforces the state of being Lost.  This makes the Realm of the Lost very difficult to escape once you're stuck there as a resident.

Luckily for Yugi, something was about to happen.

*****  
  


            Yami was still wandering the Realm of the Lost, and he was still going nowhere; the fact that there is almost nothing actually _in_ the Realm probably had something to do with it.  He was still trying to find Yugi, and Hikari still wanted to stop him.  She had left to think of a good plan, since threats apparently had no effect.  Finally, she decided that if she couldn't _force_ 'that other one' to leave, she would have to convince him.  It shouldn't be too hard--after all, Ko had finally realized that they were right....

"You should leave."

This time, Yami didn't even turn around.

"I see no reason why."

"Well _I_ do.  I know you should leave.  What I'm saying is true.  You have no reason to be here, so why should you stay?"

"I _do_ have a reason for being here.  I'm looking for Yugi, and if you would help me then I'd be gone a lot faster."

"I don't know anyone called Yugi.  I only know Ko."

"Well, then I'm looking for Ko.  _Now_ will you help me?"

Yami made a grave mistake here: he used the Lost's name for Yugi.  This was a bad idea for several reasons.  First, agreeing with the Lost in any respect made them even more stubborn; second, agreeing that Yugi's name was really Ko made it more true for the Lost (and therefore for Yugi); and third, it was not said quietly.

_..............Ko?_

In the Realm of the Lost, one never knows who might be listening.

Hikari smiled.  She didn't mind taking that other one to see Ko as Ko--she just didn't want him confusing Ko with a different name and a whole lot of bad ideas about having names and the Outside.  Now that Ko was agreed to be Ko, it was all right.

"All right.  I'll take you to see Ko.  Come on....this way...."

Yami, not knowing that calling Yugi Ko had any other result than actually going somewhere for once, followed the Lost girl into a landscape as hazy as she was.

*****

Getsu, Yoru, and "Ko" were still standing around doing nothing (or, in Yugi's case, trying to think of something to do) when wandered over.  

"Ko, this one wants to talk to you.  I don't know why but he won't go away so I guess you have to."

Yami was still following her, and to him, the scene was bizarre.  A bunch of misty, gray people (plus Yugi) were standing around staring at each other.  He couldn't understand the point of what they were doing; little did he know there _was_ no point.  He was, however, glad to have _finally_ found Yugi.  Yugi didn't completely recognize him, but he looked awfully familiar.

"Oh....okay...."

Hikari, before leaving with the other Lost to go do nothing somewhere less active, whispered, "Be CAREFUL, Ko--I think this one is dangerous."  
Yugi didn't really believe her; he didn't remember Yami, but he had a feeling that whoever the Outsider was, they weren't going to hurt him.  Yami, of course, was more than slightly confused, mostly by the Lost and Yugi's inexplicable name change.  He wasn't sure whether the Lost had changed Yugi's name because they felt like it, or because Yugi didn't remember his real name.

"Uh...Ko?"

"Oh..._they_ call me Ko...it's not my real name, though....my real name...it's Yugi..."  
"You remember your real name?"

Yugi nodded sadly.  "I'm trying to forget it though.  It's a lot harder than they said it would be."

"Well--don't forget your name.  Names are good."

"I don't _think_ so...they said names are bad..."

"Who're you going to believe, me or them?"

"Well........"

"But I'm telling the _truth_!"

"Well...................."

"Don't you believe me?"

"Well........................................"

"WHY NOT!?"

"Well, why should I believe you?  She said you were dangerous."

"Do you think I'm dangerous?"

"I don't know..."

"Don't you REMEMBER me?"

"....no.....oh, wait...you were going to kill me....right?"  Yugi finally said, laughing slightly.  Apparently he found this very amusing.

"Well I didn't know you were _you_!"

Yugi took this very literally, as the Lost would.  "Oh?  Who did you think I was?"

"Well--I don't know, just someone else!"

"Maybe I AM someone else," Yugi said thoughtfully.  "After all...if you didn't know I was me before, maybe you just THINK I'm me now...I might not really be me.  Maybe I never WAS me."

This was so bizarre that Yami couldn't think of anything to say.  It was, if that was even possible, worse than trying to reason with the Lost.

"If I'm not me, I wonder who I am...."

"Look--I'm pretty sure you're you, so just go with that, okay?"

"So I AM me?  That's good...I wasn't sure..."

"Yugi, you ARE you, and you aren't a Lost, so you don't belong here.  You live somewhere else, remember?"

"Well...not really...if I used to live somewhere I think I would remember...but...sometimes I think maybe there WAS somewhere else...things happened there, I think....not like here...."

"Yes, that's your home.  You live--I do too, actually."

"Really?  Who are you anyway?"

"I'm...well, I'm...well, my name is Yami."

"But who ARE you?"

"....I don't know."

Yugi smiled vaguely, looking very much like a Lost.  "I don't either.  I wouldn't worry too much about it though.  They said it wasn't important."

"Well they're wrong--it IS important."

"Are you SURE?"

"Yes, I'm sure!"

"Oh.  Okay then."

"....you believe me?"

"Yeah."

"But....why?"

"I don't know....it's just...you seem awfully familiar..."

"Well at least that's something.  Come on--we have to go."

"Go where?"

"Home."

"....home?  What's home?"

"Home is a place you live.  Well, more like a place you belong, I guess."

Yugi looked sad.  "Oh....well....I don't really _belong_ anywhere...and now I live here, I think....so I can't come with you...."

"But that's not true!  You belong in our World--you're a _Guardian_!"

"But....I don't belong there...if I did....wouldn't I remember it?"

"Well.....well......"

"See?  I can't belong there.  That doesn't make any sense.  But...you should probably go...because you don't belong here....and it's not really the kind of place you'd want to stay in....if you didn't belong here....I don't think you'll like it very much....."

Yugi faded away, evidently to some other part of the Realm.  "Hey--wait!"  Alas, it was no use.  Yugi was already gone.  Yami, however, was not deterred.

"Great...here I go again...."

He ran off into the nothingness of the Realm again, this time fully aware that he was unlikely to get anywhere.  It was at least better than doing nothing.

*****

            In another part of the Realm, a consciousness stirred.  It had long been dormant, long forgotten everything it was or had ever been.  It was almost at the stage where it ceased to be anything, but then....something had happened.

_...............Ko!_

                The consciousness was awakened.  Slowly, but purposefully, it began to move.  It knew what it wanted.  It knew who it was....or at least, it thought that it did.  It was ready to be itself again....no matter what the cost.


	16. My Name is Ko

Author's note:  Thanks for reviewing, Serafinamoon!  In this chapter you FINALLY find out who the voice is…sort of.  Yeah, Yami really screws up there…he has no clue what's going on, though.  ^___^;;  Hope you like this chapter!

Chapter 16--My Name is Ko

            Yami finally stopped, not because he was tired, but because he was at a loss.  He didn't know where he was going, he didn't know how to get there, and he didn't know what he was going to do once he got there (wherever there was).  What he needed was a plan, and in order to make a plan, he needed more information.  Who were the Lost, and how did they get the way they were?  What did they want with Yugi anyway, and why didn't Yugi remember anything?  How was it even possible to return Yugi's lost memory?

_Before, I was sure I could figure this out, but...what if there _is_ no solution?  What am I supposed to do now?_

            Completely clueless, Yami sat down in the middle of nowhere (a.k.a. the Realm of the Lost) to think.  In order to figure out what was happening now, he had to figure out how he had gotten here in the first place.  How had all of this started?

_....Yugi's dreams!  That's when this started!_

            Yami had finally remembered the circumstances under which the Lost first appeared--through dreams.  The dreams induced by the Lost were different than normal dreams because they weren't memories or random elements of the subconscious--they were more directed.  In fact, they hadn't been dreams at all; Yugi's mind had been within the Realm of the Lost, and he had actually communicated with the Lost, although no one realized it at the time.

_The Lost said they looked through Yugi's memories to talk to him...but why...wait--it must have because they didn't know how to talk to him!  The more they talked to Yugi, the more contact they had with normal things, and the longer they were in contact with normal things in our World, the more they remembered...and...when Yugi kept spacing out, they must have been talking to him!  But if I can see them now, why couldn't I see them then?  ...because they weren't here!  They pulled Yugi's mind into the Realm of the Lost with them!  But...how did we end up here?_

            Yami was not entirely correct in this piece of the story; the reason he had previously been unable to see the Lost was because they, out of their own Realm, were nonexistent to almost everyone.  Yugi, as one of the few people able to perceive the Lost, _could_ see them.  Within the Realm of the Lost, of course, the Lost can be perceived almost normally.  He was partially right--the Lost had dragged Yugi into their own Realm later on, although they hadn't intended to (thinking out a plan like that had been beyond them at first).  The next question, of course, was the hardest.

_What happened just before I got here...Yugi was in the hospital because he got stabbed...but there was no weapon...and that would mean...that his physical body wasn't present when he was injured!  So that means that someone or something _here_ must have attacked him--and that somehow caused him to become Lost?  That doesn't make sense...but there isn't any other answer...why does anyone become Lost?_

            Yami had no way of answering this; he knew almost nothing about the Lost.  The reasons that someone can become Lost are, of course, numerous (and occasionally situational), but only one applied to Yugi: uncertain identity.   Because Yugi's identity had been at least partially uncertain when his mind was injured and he was already in connection with the Lost, he faded away entirely.  This had dragged Yami into the Realm of the Lost too, but of course he didn't know that.

_I don't know enough about this place to figure out exactly how I got here, or how Yugi got Lost, but I have to figure out how to get back--and how to make Yugi remember who he is.  If only I had a clue...anything would help!_

            That was when he remembered....

_CAN YOU SEE?_

_That's it!  Yugi knew what was going to happen to him, so he gave me a clue!  But...what does it mean?  Can you see...see what?  There isn't anything _to_ see here!_

            Luckily, Yami also happened to remember something else.

_Yugi took this very literally, as the Lost would.  "Oh?  Who did you think I was?"_

_"Well--I don't know, just someone else!"_

_"Maybe I AM someone else," Yugi said thoughtfully.  "After all...if you didn't know I was me before, maybe you just THINK I'm me now...I might not really be me.  Maybe I never WAS me."_

__

__

_When I first got here, I didn't recognize Yugi...later I did, but I still don't know _why_.  That must be what it meant!  I have to make Yugi remember who he is, but to do that, _I_ need to know who he is first!  Here, things don't seem to look like what they are all the time, but that doesn't mean that they aren't themselves.  If I want to find anything or know anything here, I have to see things as they are, not just as what they _seem_ like._  "That's it!  That's the answer!"

            Having finally figured out what to do next, Yami got up and continued.  This time, however, he actually knew where he was going for once, _and_ how to get there.

*****

            Yugi was also standing in the Realm of the Lost, trying to figure something out.  In his case, however, the problem was much more difficult.

"...who _am_ I?"  
It was a question to which Yugi had no answer.  He was becoming more Lost all the time; only his strong connection to his name (and therefore his identity) kept him from losing himself altogether.

"_They_ said...my name was Ko...that I'm...one of _them_...............but am I?  The other one.....he knew my name....but....is that really my name?  I was so sure....but......."

            Self-doubt is nearly always destructive.  So it was with Yugi; doubting his own knowledge of his identity was rapidly erasing it.

"I have to be somebody...don't I?"

*****

_..........Ko........._

The other consciousness was stirring again; it knew exactly what it wanted, its mind was clearer than it had been in ages, its memory was returning with greater speed every second.

_.....Ko....is me!_

Hikari's choice of a name might have been coincidence.  It might have been random.

It might also have been a faded, forgotten memory of another new Lost, and another name.

_......I'm me!_

Ko was not Yugi's name.  It was, however, someone else's name, and that someone had only now remembered himself.  He knew who he was--he was Ko.  However, he was not entirely un-Lost; a strange notion had set itself in his newly-regained mind, and there was no abandoning it now.

Ko had seen the Lost call Yugi by another name--Ko.

Ko did not know that Ko was not Yugi's real name.

Ko _did_ know that Ko was his real name.

With reasoning only a Lost could think logical, Ko had theorized that the one the other Lost called Ko must be him, since that was his name.  While this might seem easy to disprove, and harmless to Yugi, it was neither.

Both Yugi and Ko were mostly Lost.

The Lost are almost entirely energy; they can shift and change very easily, and their visual appearances are based on their "identities," or at least what's left of them.  When they lose their identities entirely, they cease to be anything.  If they regain their identities, they look like themselves again.

Ko no longer had a physical body because he had almost become nothing.

Ko thought that he was Yugi.

Yugi wasn't sure who he was.

The combination of these events proved disastrous.

Yugi, still pondering his identity, never sensed the mind creeping closer to him.

Ko struck!

In an instant, Yugi's weakened mind fought Ko's for control.  Unfortunately, Ko's determination to exist was currently much stronger than Yugi's.

_...who are you?_

_I'm me--you don't even exist, now go away!_

_But...I DO exist!  ....don't I?_

_No!  _I_ am Ko--you aren't anything!  I AM KO!_

_I'm....not anything?_

_You don't even exist._

_Oh..........._

_Now GO!_

_............._

Yugi's mind was shoved out of the way, although it was still present.  Ko's mind was in control, but it wasn't quite the same as being possessed; it was more like parasitic contact.  Yugi, because he was not entirely Lost, was still a corporal being with a corporal body; Ko had formerly been the same, but was now only a consciousness--a consciousness that grew stronger each moment.  Because both of the minds present were partially Lost, Yugi might as well have been nonexistent--the Lost take on the physical appearance that suits their identity, and Ko was now the dominant identity.  No one would have recognized Yugi's still-present mind now.

Or at least, very few people would.

Yami, having finally figured out how to get somewhere in the Realm of the Lost (you had to know where you wanted to go), arrived slightly too late to stop Ko from pushing aside Yugi's mind, but all was not lost--just most of it.

"...Yugi?"

The figure turned.

"My name is Ko!"


	17. Chaos' Clann

Author's note: thank you for reviewing, Serafinamoon!  Yes, that WAS an uh-oh chapter--everything goes wrong at once!  In this chapter, you find out who Ko is--really!  Hope you like this chapter!  ^__^

Chapter 17--Chaos' Clann

            Just as Yami was about to start arguing with the person who said he was Ko, he felt once again the sensation of being pulled to another place by force.  It's very unpleasant to be yanked in and out of the Multiverse with no warning, and Yami could certainly attest to that right now.  He (and Ko, although he didn't know that yet) reappeared on a cold, metal floor.  They were in the Chaos fortress.

            Ko felt the memories of his life returning.  He had returned; he was home!  Yami, of course, had no idea what was happening.  He didn't even know where he was at first.  Getting up, he turned to look at the stranger from the Realm of the Lost and nearly fell over again in surprise.

He had tattoos on his face--Skull Clann tattoos!

            The skull-like markings covered a face that, as with most Clanners, didn't look exactly inhuman; there was simply something odd about it.  His face was only slightly narrower than a human face, with only slightly higher cheekbones, giving him a sharp, almost chiseled appearance, like a marble statue.  His hair was dark colored, as with many Skull Clanners, and his eyes were an equally dark midnight blue.  His height was average, or it would have been if he had been human.  He was really nothing special; his eyes weren't nearly as striking as Benjamin's or as vividly colored as Vice's, but he had a nice face all the same--an ordinary kind of niceness that is so pleasant to see and so often unappreciated.  Or at least, it would have been nice...if there hadn't been something somehow out-of-place, something uncertain and lonely.  This was because Ko was still at least partially Lost, and he wasn't in his own body.  In fact, he didn't have a body anymore; he was nothing but a mind.  For a moment, Yami could almost see Ko with a kind of double-sight, stemming from the two minds contained in one body, but it was gone in an instant.  While he was thinking about this, Ko spoke.

"Why are _you_ here?"

Silence.  Then Yami realized that Ko must still be able to see him and that he must therefore be talking to him.

"I could ask you the same question!"

"No, you can't.  You don't belong here like me, so why are you here?"

"Fine...I'm looking for Yugi.  Well, actually I thought _you_ were Yugi.  ....but...how can you be?"

Ko glared at him.  "I'm Ko.  I'm me.  I'm not anybody else."

"Well....maybe...."

"Why would you think I'm someone else?"

"I don't know...you just seem like someone else.  In fact...I still think you may not be who you say you are."

"I AM!"

"Well, you don't have to get so upset about it."

If looks could kill, Ko's face at that moment would have been fatal.  "Go away, ghost.  Go away and leave me alone!"

This was a mistake.  Although Ko had no way of knowing it, being called a ghost was one thing that really annoyed Yami.  Consequently, he probably would have knifed Ko right then if he hadn't thought better of it.

"I AM NOT A GHOST!!!!"

Ko stood in shocked silence.

".......and I'm not leaving until I find out what happened to Yugi because I still say it seems like Yugi's mind is present for some reason.  Got a problem with that?"

Unfortunately, Ko was just as stubborn as Yami.

"Yes, I do.  You'll be sorry soon enough when the rest of my Clann _ makes_ you leave!"

"They won't if they don't have spirit sight."

Ko grimaced.  "No!  I _can't_ be the only one who can see you!"

Yami stuck his tongue out at the bewildered Skull Clann child.  It wasn't a very mature thing to do, but he was having a bad day.

            Meanwhile, the other Skull Clanners stationed at the base came out to see what the noise was.  They didn't see Yami, of course, since magic (including spirit-sight) is rare within their Clann.  To said spirit's surprise, they seemed shocked (and overjoyed) to see Ko.

"KO!  Where have you been?  How did you get back?"  
"Were you captured?"

"Who captured you?"

"Where did you disappear to?"

Another figure entered, much more imposing than anyone else present.

"Silence!  Let the child speak."

Ko coughed slightly to clear his throat.

"I...I don't remember what happened...I don't know how I got back...but...(at this point his voice grew louder and more confident)...but I am here to serve the cause!"

            There were nods and smiles all around; they were very proud of Ko for his determination after whatever had happened to him.  They never doubted his story.  It was perfectly possible for someone not to remember a traumatic event clearly.  A bell chimed, and they all went off to various duties; they were on a strict schedule during the day.  Ko was left with only two companions: Yami, whom Ko didn't want to be there, and another young Clanner.

"Ko, we were all worried about you--we couldn't figure out where you had gone!  I'm glad you're back.  It's been _so_ boring without you, I never have anything to do.  They thought I might disappear too or something."

Ko smiled.  This was Nahasha, the only other young child stationed at this particular base.  Because of this, the two spent most of their time together; the adults were always working.  The Overlord kept them busy.

"Did my brother ask about me?"

Nahasha fidgeted nervously.

"....no.  He hasn't been back for a while, so...he didn't know...he's busy a lot, with all the battles...."

Ko sighed.  He had been hoping, although he felt ashamed to admit it, that his brother had noticed he was gone and been worried about him.  But no, Isao was still away on campaign...of course he hadn't known.  There was no way for news to have reached him...despite all his assurances, however, Ko still felt very disappointed.

            Yami was watching this scene from an outsider's perspective; not knowing who any of the people speaking or being spoken about were, he had to guess at the details behind the words.  They were both of Skull Clann, Ko and the brown-haired girl, but they seemed almost opposite in personality.  Ko was serious and dutiful, but something in his nature seemed dark and tormented in a way that Yami couldn't quite see.  The girl, on the other hand, seemed cheerful enough (for a Clanner), and had none of the doubt lurking within Ko where only a sharp eye would see it.  Nahasha, not able to see Yami and not guessing that anyone else might be present, grabbed Ko's hand.

"Come on--let's go see if any of the warriors are back yet.  There was a big battle the other day while you were gone, I think it might be an important one!"

Ko, who could see Yami and wanted to get rid of him or at least figure out who and what he was, hung back.

"Nah...I'll catch up with you...you go ahead."

            If Yami had known more about the Clanners, he would have been surprised that they were speaking English instead of Clann.  If he had also known more about the Chaos Army, however, he would have expected it.  The Chaos Army is made up of so many diverse groups that there is almost no linguistic regularity.  The Clanners, especially shrinking Clanns like Skull Clann, feel threatened by the presence of so many other cultures much larger than their own.  Consequently, they speak their own language only in privacy, so that it may be kept safe.  Knowing none of this, Yami did not realize any of the significance behind their language choice.  He was more focused on finding out who Ko was--and why Yugi's mind seemed present with him.  Ko, of course, was more focused on getting rid of the "ghost" following him around.

"Well?  Go away.  Can't you see I'm Ko?  Everyone here knows my name, I belong here.  This is my life and you aren't part of it, so get lost!"

"No.  I'm not leaving until I figure out what happened to Yugi, even if I have to follow you around for the rest of my life!"

Ko scowled.  He could see that his invisible (to everyone else) shadow was very, very stubborn, so he gave in.

"Fine...you'll go away soon enough I guess."

            Ko walked back to the barracks.  All the various divisions of the Chaos Army were kept in different barracks, although they shared some areas.  In order to keep some of the Clanns from an outright slaughter, they were given barracks _very_ far away from each other.  Some other Clanners were working or relaxing there as well; they didn't have much free time or free space, but they made the most of it.  Ko was about to go to his own room, but he hadn't realized that as well as being stubborn, Yami was extremely annoying to have talking to you constantly.

"Hey--who're they?"

            Ko, realizing (as Yugi never did) that he would look like he was talking to himself if he spoke to the spirit, muttered, "Be quiet."  This, of course, did nothing to stop Yami whatsoever.

"I refuse to be quiet.  You can't _make_ me shut up, so why should I?  Come on--tell me who those people are."

            There were very few children stationed at this base, and very few Skull Clanner children in general.  Even if he didn't admit it, Ko was really very lonely.  If he hadn't been, he probably wouldn't have spoken to Yami at all.  However, because he very much wanted someone to talk to, Ko started to tell Yami about his life.

            "That one in the corner is Suke,  She's a warrior.  Well, everyone here is a warrior, but that's what she officially does for the Overlord.  She goes on campaigns with everyone else, and in single battles she usually goes along too.  Suke is a rapier proficient, she's very agile.  She's kind of like a second-in-command, in case the Chieftenn fell in battle.  Katsuya is Chieftenn.  I don't know what he's proficient in, but my brother told me once that he can use just about _any_ weapon.  He's the greatest Chieftenn of any Clann and I know he's going to keep up alive.  At least, Atsuko says he is.  Everyone talks like that now.  It's because we've lost so many lately.  I'm not usually in any of the battles, since me, Nahasha, and Kenichi are too young.  My brother says no one is too young to fight, but the Army commanders in our base say we would only get in the way in a battle, especially since there are so few of our Clann here.

            Next to Suke is Ryohsuke.  Sometimes I think they're only friends because their names sound similar, since they're really not much alike.  Ryohsuke is a poleax proficient, my brother says he's one of the best.  He's a warrior, just like Suke, and he takes it all very seriously.  The war, I mean.  He really thinks this is important...that maybe we'll finally win.  I'm not sure what it is we'll win, though.  He says it doesn't matter just as long as we win something.  My brother says things like that sometimes, but he thinks at least we'll beat the humans and the Darklings.

            Over by the fire is Junichi.  She works as a cook, here and on campaigns, but don't think she can't fight--she's a knife proficient.  Her favorite blades are in different sheaths beneath that raggedy coat she wears.  Atsuko said she doesn't go to battles much anymore because she's gotten hit on the head one too many times, and she's a little strange.  Everyone likes her even so--she _is_ a really good cook, even if she doesn't talk much.

            Those two in the middle of the room are Makoto and Kenichi.  Makoto is a bladed weapons proficient, but his favorite is his battle sword.  He's training Kenichi to use a sword as well.  Nahasha got Suke to teach her some rapier, so I'm the only one who doesn't have a proficiency at least picked out.  I don't even really know what I want to study...my brother said he would teach me, but he's away a lot, so..."

Ko seemed like he was about to say more, but instead he paused a moment before moving on.

            "The lady sitting in the other corner is Fujiko.  She's repairing some clothes right now--they get damaged in battle all the time, and of course we have to take care of everything we have since the it's not likely that the Overlord will give us anything new.  Fujiko may smile all the time and she may look harmless, but she isn't.  I didn't believe it until I saw it myself, but she's a war axe proficient--I can't believe she can lift such a heavy weapon!  Not even my brother can use Fujiko's axe.

            Everyone else is out, I guess they're being briefed or something.  There aren't too many more, though; there are only fifteen of us at this base.  It's too bad that they had to split our Clann up...there aren't very many of us anyway."

            As he had been saying this, Ko wandered into his room, or rather the room he shared with several other Clanners due to space restrictions, and flopped down on his bunk.  In order to save space, the room contained three bunk beds and a trunk beneath each; the Clanners had few surviving personal possessions anyway.  Ko slept in the bottom bunk at the end of the room farthest from the door.  The room itself had a low ceiling and was dimly lit.  Unlike some parts of the base, the walls, floor, and ceiling were natural rock; the room was carved into it, so Yami knew they must be underground.  Ko had apparently finished explaining who the people in the main room were, but it was already way more information than Yami had actually wanted to know.  Ko and his fellow Skull Clanners were very different from most of the Clanners Yami had previously met, and although he rarely had patience to listen to anyone (especially an enemy), he was still curious about what exactly they did shut up underground in the base.

"...you said you had a brother, right?"

Ko looked up, having apparently forgotten all about Yami.

"Huh?  Oh...yes, I do.  His name is Isao, he's a great warrior--maybe even tougher than our Chieftenn.  He's the strongest person I know, and he's all the family I have left too.  Our parents died in battle.  I think Kenichi's did too...he never talks about them.  Of course, he doesn't talk to me very much...he thinks I'm not dedicated to the cause enough."

"...cause?"

"You know--the war.  Say...who are _you_?"

Bizarrely enough, this question actually took Yami completely by surprise and completely stumped him after a few seconds.

"Who, me?  I'm...Yami."

Ko said nothing for a moment.

"...and?"

"And what?"

"I told you about my family and where I live.  What about you?"

"Uh....I don't actually have a family, and I don't really _live_ anywhere, or at least not like you do..."

Ko was dumbfounded.  "How can you not have a family?  You have to have been born at some point."

"Well, yeah, I guess so...I don't remember that though.  Big deal, how important is knowing where you were born anyway?"

"I think it's important.  Your family and the place you live make you who you are."

"Do not."

"Yes they do!  My brother Isao says this war is really important, and I believe him, so it's important to me too!  Maybe if he wasn't my brother or I lived somewhere else, I wouldn't think that."

"You determine who you are, not someone else."

"You're just saying that because you don't even _know_ who you are."

While Yami was still trying to think of a comeback for this, someone new walked in.  To Yami's disappointment, she started speaking to Ko in Clanner.  After a few minutes, Ko nodded, then got up to leave.  The woman walked out ahead of him, but went in a different direction.  In just a few minutes, Yami was completely lost, or he would have been in Ko hadn't been there.  The base was a maze of passages and doors, each one leading to a different place.

"How come this stupid base is so confusing!?"

"It's not confusing.  You've  just never been here before."

"Oh right..."

            In a few minutes, they arrived in another room, which must have been higher up--there were even a few windows at the top of the walls, too high to see out of and too grimy to let in much light.  An impatient looking person of a species Yami couldn't identity was pacing back and forth, apparently waiting for someone.  Finally, someone or something ran in with a bucket of water and a rag, followed by another someone (or something) with a ladder.  They started washing the windows while the strange person, evidently some kind of overseer, shouted at them in English.  Ko hurried on, evidently not wanting to watch.

"What's up with them?"

"Those two people cleaning the windows are Chaos slaves.  The other one is assigned to watch them and make sure they don't sabotage anything.  That's not really what they do, though.  They usually just amuse themselves by making whatever the slaves are doing harder.  Isao says it's okay for them to be slaves because they aren't Clanners, though."

"Well what do you think?"

"What do..._I_ think?"

"Yeah, you."

"Well....I don't know...it _seems_ kind of wrong, but Isao would never agree with something that was wrong..."

            Yami thought this was ridiculous, as well as naive, but wisely refrained from saying so.  Finally, they actually got where Ko was apparently supposed to be going, which was a side room with a long table in it.  Nahasha and Kenichi arrived there too; in fact they got there nearly at the same time.  A Clanner lady was already there.  What they did was completely meaningless to Yami, since it was all in Clanner, but the general idea he got was that they were supposed to be learning something.  It was possible that it was a Clanner version of school, but who knew?  It was incredibly boring for our hero, probably because he had no idea what was going on.  Yami still had quite figured out that the Clanners spoke Clann only in privacy; when around others, they spoke English.  They also didn't have clocks, so Yami didn't really know 

how long they kept talking and writing things down.  He was thinking about other things.

How was he supposed to find Yugi and get out of here?

            For some reason, Yugi's mind seemed present with Ko, but what did that mean?  How was it helpful, if it was helpful at all?  It was quite a problem, and Yami had no idea what the solution was.

            Meanwhile, another mind, barely present at all despite its apparent aura, was doing nothing.  It almost _was_ nothing, so there wasn't really anything it could do.  This, of course, was Yugi's mind, which was indeed present with Ko, since both minds occupied Yugi's physical body.  Time was running out for this mind...if Ko's mind proved stronger, it could eliminate Yugi's mind entirely.  Ko believed very strongly that he was really himself now, and that belief was gradually overpowering Yugi's not-quite-existent belief that Ko was not him.  In fact, only Yami's belief that Yugi could possibly be present whether he could see him or not was keeping Yugi's mind from being outweighed by Ko's.

This was a dangerous balance.

            Ko and his fellow Clanners finished whatever they were doing (it actually _was_ very similar to school, except that the subjects they had to learn were not like school subjects in Yugi's World at all), and stood up to leave.  The lady followed them, then, remembering something, stopped outside the room.

"Wait--Ko, Nahasha, Kenichi, there have been more battles and more warriors are needed all the time.  Soon, we may need all of you to help fight as well.  In light of this, it is vital that you continue work on your chosen proficiencies.  I would focus on a specific weapon for now; you can broaden your knowledge to contain an entire group later.  Now...what have you each chosen as your proficiencies?"

Nahasha smiled, very happy to have convinced Suke to teach her and proud to be contributing to the cause.

"Suke is teaching me the rapier, Atsuko."

The lady, who was indeed Atsuko, caretaker of the only three children stationed at the base, nodded approvingly.

"Good, Nahasha.  Suke is an expert in all blades, and her rapier is unmatched.  Kenichi?  What about you?"

Kenichi's face was bereft of any emotion but a cold, automatic hate for something or someone--no one knew what.

"Makoto has agreed to teach me the sword."

Atsuko nodded again.  "You also are well-off, Kenichi.  And you, Ko?"

Ko looked at the ground.  Flushing slightly, he whispered, "I have not chosen a proficiency."

They all stared at him, with the exception of Nahasha (who had already known) and Yami (who also knew, and wouldn't have cared or understood even if he didn't).  Kenichi's lip curled in a sneer.

"Pathetic...are you afraid, Ko?  Can't muster the courage to fight for yourself?  Coward--traitor!  You dishonor your family with your--"

Atsuko silenced him with a stern look.

"Enough, Kenichi.  To accuse another's honor is a serious thing; do not do it lightly.  Ko must choose his proficiency when he is ready.  No one can do it for him, and no one should rush him.  Come, all of you.  Back to the barracks now."

Nahasha sighed wistfully.

"I wish we could go outside, just for a bit..."

Atsuko shook her head.

"We are now employed by the Overlord.  It is his business that we must be about.  You may help Rena clean and tend the weapons.  Go, now--I have other things to do.  Tell Suke I will be along shortly."

They all nodded and bowed, then ran off.  Ko walked more slowly, not wanting to talk to anyone.  Of course, he wasn't likely to get his wish.

"Who was she, and who's Rena?  And what's up with that Kenichi guy?"

            Ko sighed.  In truth, he didn't mind talking to Yami--someone who knew nothing about his life couldn't criticize it (or at least most people couldn't--Yami could).

"The lady was Atsuko.  She watches me, Nahasha, and Kenichi, since we aren't supposed to go to other parts of the base and the Chieftenn says even though we're at war children still need to be educated (here Ko's voice took on an imitation of what Yami supposed was the Chieftenn's oft-repeated statement).  Rena is the armory master, she takes care of all the armor and weaponry we have and keeps it safe when we aren't using it.  She's also a bow proficient.  I wish I had a proficiency...Kenichi doesn't like me not having one.  He wants to fight, even though he isn't very experienced yet.  Of course all three of us are starting our weapons training late--usually we would have chosen our proficiencies a long time ago.  We've all done simple weapons training, but I wasn't very good at that either...I guess I'm just not much of a warrior..."

            Even though Ko was an enemy in the pay of the Overlord, Yami still felt sorry for him.

"Well, don't feel bad.  Not everyone is a warrior; there are lots of other things to be.  If everyone was a warrior, the whole Multiverse would basically be screwed, so you can see it isn't so bad."

"But my brother Isao is so strong and he's so good at everything--I should be a warrior too, like he wants me to be!  My parents were warriors, probably my whole family has been, and _everyone_ can use a weapon--that's what Skull Clann does, we're warriors!  I _have_ to be a warrior--I have to choose a proficiency and be really, really good at it..."

"How come?  If you don't want to, don't do it."

"But--I don't have a _choice_!  It's what I'm supposed to do..."

"Try doing what you want to do for once.  You can't base your whole life on what other people tell you to do, you know."

"That's easy for you to say...you don't even know who you are, so you aren't supposed to be anything....you can do whatever you want.  I can't."

            Yami fell silent after that; after all, Ko _was_ right in some ways.  Ko, Nahasha, and Kenichi polished and sharpened blades, fixed hilt bindings, and generally made themselves useful under Rena's supervision, using Clann when they spoke now that they were in private.  Yami sat and tried to figure out his current problem, but he couldn't find a solution.  What was he going to do?

            Yugi probably would have wondered that too, if he could have wondered anything at the moment.  His mind was hanging on to its identity by a thread; if something didn't happen soon, it would be too late.


	18. Never Forget Me

Author's note:  Thank you for reviewing Serafinamoon! Yeah, Skull Clann was kind of a surprise…it was the best Clann he could have come from (of the Chaos ones) though.  It probably WOULD be helpful that they know about the Chaos Fortress…but it's not likely that Yami will actually remember any of it…^___^;;;   Actually…I hate to admit it, but the names of the Skull Clanners in section two were all taken from video game credits…they're real Japanese names because it was a Japanese video game (I wanted Japanese names so I beat a game made in Japan—it was in English).  I DID make up Ko and Nahasha though, and most other Clanner names are made up.  The only other names I didn't make of original characters are the Lost—Hikari is light, Getsu is moon I think, and Yoru is night, I think.  Now that you mention it though, they ARE kind of similar to some of the Japanese version names….weird.   I can't say what's going to happen to Yugi because that would ruin the story!  Hope you like this chapter!  ^___^

Chapter 18--Never Forget Me

            Someone with more military knowledge would have thought it was an opportunity; someone more curious would have thought it was interesting.  Yami just thought being in the Chaos Fortress with a bunch of Clanners was boring.

            It was true that while they weren't in a battle or on campaign, the Clanners did very ordinary, boring things like eat, sleep, and train.  Ko, who didn't have a proficiency, could only participate in the first two activities, so it might seem like he was more boring than all of the other Clanners put together.

This was not the case.

            Skull Clann has very little magic as a whole, and it's a very rare Skull Clanner who can use or sense the presence of magic.  Ko didn't have much magic, but he did have spirit-sight; he was also within someone else's body and accompanied by another mind.  Both of these things made him fairly interesting, at least from Yami's point of view, although he only guessed that Ko had some kind of magic and he still couldn't figure out what was up with his mind.  It was hard to concentrate on anything with Ko agonizing over his proficiency anyway.

"I _have_ to choose a proficiency...but I don't what I want to study...there must be _something_ I can learn!"

"Look...could you just get over the proficiency thing?  That Atsuko lady said you shouldn't rush choosing it anyway..."

"You don't understand!  I _need_ a proficiency--our Clann are the Makers of the Dead, we're warriors!  That's what we _do_!"

"Learning to kill people doesn't make you a warrior.  Maybe you're just not cut out for this."

"I _must_ be...my brother is a warrior, and my parents were warriors, so I have to be a warrior too!"

"Well...what's the big deal if you aren't a warrior?  There are other professions, you know..."

"If I'm not a warrior that makes me a coward!  _All_ Skull Clanners choose a proficiency and learn a weapon!"

"Just because you aren't a warrior doesn't mean you're a coward.  And there must have been at least one Skull Clanner who wasn't a warrior at   some point.  Now could you shut up?  I'm trying to concentrate."

"Concentrate on _what_?  You're a spirit--you don't do anything."

"Just because I'm not like you doesn't mean I don't do things.  And I'm trying to rescue someone.  Now leave me alone."

"_You're_ the one who's bothering _me_, not the other way around."

"Let me make this perfectly clear...if you don't shut up and leave me alone, you're going to lose some appendages...and don't think I won't carry that threat out, because I will."

"Yeah, right," Ko muttered, but he did fall silent.  After all, why take a chance?

*****

            While Ko was arguing with Yami, Katsuya was receiving orders from the section commander.  It was galling for a Chieftenn to be at someone's command, but he had no choice if his Clann was to survive.  Bowing in false respect, he hurried to inform the rest of his Clann of their new orders.

            The barracks door burst open, and all the Skull Clanners stood up in _real_ respect as their Chieftenn entered.

"New orders--there will be a battle shortly, and we are all the prepare...._all_ of us.  It is the Ana-srin again, and...our orders are to kill."

There was an outcry of rage at this, which Yami couldn't understand at all, since he didn't know who the Ana-srin were.

"Why're they all so upset?"

"Because...the Ana-srin are renegade Clanners--they're from Clanns who've joined the Overlord, but they refuse to obey their Chieftenns and serve him.  They've formed the Ana-srin as a kind of resistance movement.  In fact, some Ana-srin even remained with their Clanns, disrupting things from the inside.  Everyone is upset because if we have to kill, we'll have to kill other Clanners...and for all we know, they might even be from _our_ Clann."

"Oh...I guess that makes sense...hey--where're you going?"

"The Chieftenn said we must all battle--that means me too.  Actually...this will be the first battle I've ever fought in."

As Ko ran off to get armor (and possibly a weapon, although that wasn't likely), Yami muttered to himself, "Great...now I have to go along and make sure he doesn't get himself killed..."

*****

            They left through one of the large Portal-Gates operated with the Chaos Fortress; it was the most efficient (and cheap) way for the Chaos Army to transport large groups of people.  Yami didn't know where they were, and neither did Ko; they had no time to wonder.  Skull Clann had been called out as reinforcements, and they arrived just in time.  The other troops, worn out from a protracted battle, Gated out, leaving Skull Clann to fend for themselves.  Of course, Skull Clann didn't need any help; not for nothing were they called the Makers of the Dead.  The enemy was a mixture of people from several different Clanns, but it didn't matter to the Skull Clanners--they fought knowing that if they failed, they would die, either at the hands of the enemy or at the hands of the Overlord's forces.  It was in their best interests to win.

            Ko was not a warrior, so he _did_ get in the way, just as the Overlord's commanders had predicted.  Nahasha was only slightly more useful, but Kenichi was a killing machine.  He was the sort of person Ko would call a warrior; Yami wouldn't.  Kenichi was still young, but he was ruthless.  He was more cold-blooded killer than warrior to the spirit.  Ko mostly stayed out of the way, not having a weapon or any fighting ability; he felt very useless and very cowardly.  Yami was right--Ko wasn't cut out to be a warrior.

He was also right in thinking that this did not make Ko a coward.

            Kenichi, like most people who wish for revenge and seek it in everyone around them, was a reckless fighter.  He managed to lose his blade far from help or hope of survival.  The Ana-srin "traitor" he faced would have killed him in an instant in self-defense, and was about to do so, when Ko saw that Kenichi was in trouble.  Ko and Kenichi were not friends by any stretch of the imagination; Kenichi hated Ko even more than he hated most people.  However, Ko still felt loyalty toward a fellow Skull Clanner and an ally in war.  He raced toward the fallen (and soon-to-be-dead) child, grabbed his dropped sword, and swung it forward to parry his opponent's strike.  Without any training in the sword, however, he missed his intent; instead of merely parrying, he sliced his enemy in two.  Ko dropped the now-bloody sword in surprise.  He hadn't intended to kill the Ana-srin, but he felt little remorse.  Ko had been raised as among warriors fighting a war, and he had learned to kill or be killed all his life.  Kenichi, unharmed thanks to Ko's quick action, stood up, scowling.

"I didn't need your help!"

He shoved Ko backwards and ran off, grabbing his blade.  Ko, taken by surprise, got up slowly, slightly dazed from striking the ground so hard.  Kenichi's lack of gratitude didn't bother anymore than killing someone did; that was his life.  The battle was soon ended, and all of the Skull Clanners returned to the Chaos Fortress.  Fortune had been good to them that day--they had suffered several injuries, but no losses.  But, unbeknownst to any of the Clanners, something _did_ change.

_I thought Yugi's mind was still here somehow, but...what if I'm wrong?_

*******

            After the battle, the Clanners returned to clean their weapons and armor; they took almost obsessively good care of all their equipment.  Most of their weapons were custom-made especially for their wielders, so Skull Clann took good care of their arsenal.  Ko, the only weaponless member of the group, wandered off to his room.  He wanted to spend some time alone, and to his surprise, he did.  Yami was too busy doubting his own original conclusion to do anything else.  It was actually a good thing when Ko interrupted him, although he didn't think of it that way.

"...what are you thinking about?"

"None of you business.  Now leave me alone."

Ko was very surprised by this; he had been unsuccessful in making Yami _stop_ talking, not getting him to talk.  

"Is...something wrong?"

"No, I'm only stuck talking inside the _Chaos Fortress_ with a bunch of Skull Clanners and I still can't figure out who you are.  Beyond that, everything is fine."

"But...I'm me--Ko!  And if you didn't want to be here, why did you come in the first place?"

"....I don't know.  I just....ended up here.  And anyway I _said_, leave me alone already."

Ko fell silent.  He had plenty to think about himself--he was caught up in a war...but was it really right?  Why were they fighting other Clanners if the whole point of siding with the Overlord was so that the Clanners would survive?  It was confusing to Ko, so he just went with what he brother Isao said.  Or at least, he always had before...

In fact, both Ko and Yami were doubting things they had previously been very, very sure about.  In Ko's case, this was a good thing; in Yami's case, this could be dangerous for someone else--Yugi.

"Ko...why did you kill that Clanner?"

"Why does it matter?"

"Just tell me."

"...this war.  People die in war.  You just have to make sure the people who die are your enemies, not your allies.  That's how it is."

            This was what finally--fatally--convinced Yami that Ko was himself, and had no connection at all to Yugi.  Yugi, however much he might blame himself for certain people's deaths, would never kill anyone, even if it meant dying himself.  It was completely against his nature to harm anyone, and even though he would _protect_ people allied with him, he wouldn't kill to do it.  Ko couldn't be Yugi, or even connected to Yugi somehow, because they were so different.  No; Ko couldn't be Yugi...he just couldn't.

*******

_...what happened to the one?  His presence...has he returned?_

_No, Master...he...left.  I don't know how...but...he's gone._

_I think it was that other one--whatever happened, it must be his fault!_

_.........what could have happened......?_

_But I can sense his presence again...he must be near...what has happened to him...?  We must find him...._

_But--where can he be?  We don't know....._

_ I will call to him...I will find him.  We must find the one--he is as we are._

_....yes....he is.  I'm sure you'll find him....right?_

_We'll find him....I hope...._

_.......hope........._

_*******_

Meanwhile, far from the Realm of the Lost, Ko had gone to sleep with the rest of the Skull Clanners.  Yami wasn't exactly asleep--just spacing out.  No one was completely awake or alert; the battling was finished for the day, and they needed their rest for tomorrow.

Another mind, however, had reawakened.

It was the call of the Lost that brought Yugi back to a conscious state; he had been buried beneath Ko's stronger mind before, but with someone calling specifically to him, his own mind was fully separated from his physical body.  This would be a problem in the long run, but for now it was a nice change.

"Yugi...are you here?"

"....I don't know......"

"Well, you're talking to me."

"You're right....I am here....I'm here!"

"That's good...but you shouldn't be here, you know.  Master asked me to find you....you left, and we know you belong with us, so I came to get you."

"I think I remember you...you're....Hikari!"

"I....don't have a name.....YOU call me that.....it ISN'T my name really......"

"...........oh..........sorry, then........."

"Yugi.....you have to come back with me.  You belong with us."

"Wait......before, didn't you call me.....Ko?"

"Master said we would only find you if we called to you with your real name.  Your real name is Yugi....you were never Ko."

"You're right.....that _is_ my name......I'm Yugi!"

"Yeah....I guess you are...so, you'll come with me, right?"

"I.....do I really belong there.....?"

"You really do....you don't belong HERE, right?"

"Yes.....I _don't_ belong here....but....I thought there was somewhere I belonged...somewhere else."

"Well....I can't MAKE you come with me....but you SHOULD come...."

Yugi really wanted to refuse, but he couldn't--he was still too Lost, even though his mind was almost back to normal, and his memory was much clearer than when he had last seen Hikari.  Alas, he could not remain in the Multiverse for long.  Realizing this, however, he thought of a plan.  Luckily, his mind was returning quickly, although some parts were still vague.

"I'll come soon...there's something I have to do first."

"Well........I don't know..........I guess so.  Just make sure you come, Yugi........"

With that, Hikari disappeared.  Yugi didn't really notice, however; he knew he didn't have much time.  He had to act quickly.

"Yami...wake up...."

"I'm not asleep....YUGI!?"

"Yeah, that's _my_ name...."

"I know, but...what are you doing here?  And how are you here anyway?  And where have you _been_?"

"This is very important...I don't have much time...."

"Much time to do what?  And why not?"

"_Listen_....I have to leave soon because I'm still not me....I'm still like the Lost, so I can't stay here because I don't belong here...."

"So....if you're you....why did it seem like Ko was you?"

"Stop interrupting me and _listen_!  I _was_ Ko....no, that's not right.  Ko became himself through me because his mind was within my body....I looked like him instead of myself because we were _both_ Lost...his mind was stronger than mine because I didn't know if I existed or not...Ko was sure he was himself....."

"But....how do you know that?  And how come you know who you are now if  you didn't before?"

"I know how appearance works when two minds occupy one body...you do too, you just have to think about it...but there isn't time....I know who I am now because when Hikari called me, because when she did I knew I had to be real, and she called me by my real name...so I kind of know who I am now...but I don't think I will for very long...."

"But--why!?"

"I don't know!  I just...can't hang on very long....so I can't stay here much longer.  Listen.  I need to finish explaining....

Before, my mind was almost completely destroyed because Ko believed so strongly that he was himself and I didn't exist at all...I didn't believe that I existed strongly enough to stay present...but because _you_ believed that it was still possible for me to be here, I could remain within my body even though Ko's mind was stronger than mine....as long as you believed I was still here--that it was still _possible_ for me to be here--Ko couldn't force my mind away because I still believed I was here as long as you did....

            But when you thought that I couldn't be here....I didn't believe it either...I wasn't really sure I existed anyway, so it wasn't hard for me to stop believing that.....I guess my mind was kind of....separate from my body at that point....because the Lost found me....and they called me, so now I'm completely separated from myself....or....maybe just my mind is....but, I really am almost a Lost now....so....I have to go back to the Realm of the Lost...it's not that I want to....it's just....I _can't_ stay here....I'm....not able to...I'm having trouble staying here just for a little while...."

"Yugi....I'm sorry...I just didn't see how you could be Ko...."

"Oh, that's okay.  I didn't really understand it either until just now when I remembered that I exist and got my mind back."

"Yeah, but I never _lost_ my mind in the first place!  So, I should've figured it out!"

"Blaming yourself isn't going to help....and it isn't your fault anyway.  I don't have much time left....I need to tell you something important......."

"What?"

"I want you to promise me something...."

"Okay, what is it?"

"Promise me you'll never forget me....because if you forget me....then no one will remember....not even me.  So.....promise me...."

"....I promise."

"Thanks.....and now....I have to go....."

"But if you remember who you are--"

"No.....I can't stay here....I won't remember for long........goodbye........Yami........................"

Yami hadn't been present the first time Yugi disappeared; if he had, he would have recognized the fading.  As it was, he was completely shocked to see Yugi (who had already looked translucent because he was just a mind and misty because he semi-Lost) vanish as if he was evaporating.  In just a few seconds, he was gone...and this time, Yami had no way of following him.

"Yugi, no............"


	19. Return to the Realm

Author's note: Thank you for reviewing, Serafinamoon!  Yeah, Yami doesn't remember things too much, does he?  And he DOES get lost all the time…^__^;;  It was definitely an uh-oh chapter—Yugi disappeared!  And as to what Yami has to do…you'll see.  ^__^;;;;  Actually, Vice told the others not to do anything because they would have gotten hurt if they went to the Realm of the Lost, and he can't go either…Yami's on his own here.  Thank you for the compliment, and I hope you like this chapter!  ^___^ 

Chapter 19--Return to the Realm

            Yami wasn't one to sit around waiting for something to happen; after Yugi disappeared (again), he immediately took action, even though he had no idea what to do.  He stood up and shook Ko awake.  Ko, of course, was less than pleased by being woken up in the middle of the night by a strange (not to mention annoying) spirit that he still couldn't get rid of.  Thus, he was not very cooperative.

"....unh....don't want t'get up...."

"Wake up already."

"But 'm tired...."

"I can't say I really care.  Now get up!"

Ko still didn't move, so Yami shoved him out of bed, causing Ko to come fully awake when he hit the floor.  Luckily, no one else woke up.

"_That's_ better."

Ko glared at the spirit, but said nothing; he didn't want to push his luck.

"Now, I need you to tell me how to get back to the Realm of the Lost."

Ko's face darkened momentarily.

"....I don't know what you're talking about," he whispered.

"Yes you do.  You aren't who you say you are, you haven't been this entire time--"

"It's only been a day..."

"Stop interrupting me.  I _said_, you aren't who you say you are and you never have been.  You don't even _know_ who you are."

"What do _you_ care who I am?"

"I don't.  You happen to be making trouble for Yugi, so now it's my problem that you're having an identity crisis."

"I am not!  And who's Yugi?"

"You are _so_ having an identity crisis because you don't know who you are, and Yugi is the person you...I don't know...possessed, I guess.   Now his mind returned to the Realm of the Lost, but yours is still here, and it shouldn't be."

Ko _did_ know what Yami was talking about, and he knew that the spirit was probably right, but he didn't want to believe it.

"Why shouldn't I be here?"

"Because you're still Lost."

"No--I'm not!  I can't be!  I'm me--I'm Ko!"

"And who exactly is that?"

This really struck home.  Ko tried to think of something--anything--he could say that would explain who he was, but nothing came to mind.  Who _was_ he, anyway?  He was himself...wasn't he?  It had to be true--it had to!

"I....I'm me.  I just....am."

"You _aren't_.  You don't know who you are...."

Yami knew that they had to return to the Realm of the Lost, "they" because even though Yugi's mind was gone Ko still controlled his physical body.  However, he didn't really know how to get back.  People seemed to go to the Realm when they forgot who they were, so he guessed that if Ko could be convinced that he didn't know himself, they would both be able to go back.  It was a long shot, but it was worth trying.

_I have to make Ko realize that he doesn't know who he is...but I don't know anything about him!  What am I supposed to do?_

"I have to be me.  I do _so_ know who I am, I know lots of things about me.

_...that's it!  I don't _need_ to know who he is--he just needs to prove that _he_ doesn't know who he is!  Well, here goes..._

"If you know so much about yourself, prove it."

"Well....well, I...I know my name.  And, my brother's name is Isao, and we're both Skull Clanners, and my parents are dead.  See?  I know about my family.  I know who I am.  How would you know anything about not knowing who you are?  You don't even _know_ who you are."

"Sure I do.  It doesn't matter who your family is...you may know about them, but you don't know about _you_."

Ko decided not to debate this point.  Instead, he steered the subject away from it.

"If you know who you are then who are you?"

"I'm me and that's all I need to know."

Ko couldn't argue with this; Yami was too self-possessed not to know who he was.  They had said the same thing, but it was the attitude behind the words that made the difference.  Ko was struggling to make himself believe that he really was himself; Yami couldn't care less even though he really didn't know who he was.

"But....how can you know who you are without knowing where you came from?"

"I don't need to know who I am....I'm just me."

"But.....how can you be _sure_?"

"This is exactly why you don't belong here, Ko...because you need _proof_ that you're yourself.  If you really did know who you were, you would have enough confidence in your identity not to need proof.  You would be able to just believe........"

".....I.....I guess......I guess you're right......"

"Really?  Wow--I was just making it up as I went along.  So, can we go now?"

Ko wasn't listening to him; he was busy saying something to himself.

"Why am I here, in this fortress?  Why am I fighting this war?  I thought that I knew....I thought that it all made sense, that everything was all right.  I was sure that this was the way my life was supposed to be--the way it was _meant_ to be.  I never thought there was any other way because I only knew the way it was.  That's why I lost this in the first place...that's why I had to go away to--to that other place.  I didn't know...I really didn't.  All that time, when I thought I was doing this for myself...I wasn't.  All along, I wasn't.  I had been sure this was what was meant to be for so long that I couldn't think anything else....I had lived my life the way everyone else thought it was supposed to be for so long that I didn't even know who I was.  But....even now that I know _this_ isn't me....I'm still not sure.....who I really am............."

            For the third time in not so long, Yami felt himself be pulled from one place to another by force.  Ko hadn't Lost himself again...he had become re-Lost.  Everything was misty and gray again; there were no definite outlines anywhere, just vague forms of almost-being.  It was quiet, the kind of quiet that makes you forget what noise is.  Ko was there, faint and transparent once more; apparently his mind had returned to its matter-less Lost form.  Yami didn't know enough about the Realm of the Lost or the Lost themselves to understand what else that meant: he just assumed that Ko, as a Lost, worked like a possessor-class demon and guessed that Yugi's physical body and mind had been rejoined.  He was wrong, however; the Realm of the Lost is a strange place.  The Lost, as they forget more and more about everything, gradually lose their physical forms.  The Realm is connected closely to the Wilds, and so the "extra" matter--the former bodies of the Lost who are very far gone--returns to them easily.  It isn't like the mind and body being separated within the Multiverse; here, the two are never separated.  The body simply ceases to exist as the Lost becomes solely energy, and then fades entirely.

At this point, Yugi was very far gone.

            The other Lost--the three who had been involved in the whole mess--were by now very concerned as to the fate of their new friend, whose name they had finally decided really _was_ Yugi.  When "that other one" and the real Ko returned to the Realm, they of course wanted to talk to them.

"....who....who are you?"

"You don't seem new....have we met before?"

            Ko was silent.  Like Yugi, he had retained his name upon entry to the Realm; unlike Yugi, however, he had lived falsely under that name so long that he didn't even know if it counted as his any more.  He couldn't bring himself to answer the other Lost.  Yami, however, had no such feelings.

"Catch up later--I need you to help me find someone."

The Lost turned to look at him.  Hikari hadn't liked him at first, but that was because she thought he might endanger Yugi.  Now, she was starting to see that the one they had chosen to talk to wasn't one of them after all.

"....it's the one we could talk to....the one we called Ko...Yugi....it's him....isn't it?"

"Yes, and I need to find him--fast."

"We.....might be able to help...."

"..........help.........."

"But first, you have to tell us why you need to find him.  Master said he really did belong here now because things changed, but.....what if...."

"What if he doesn't....."

".....what if....."

"First _you_ tell me what this Master said."

"Master said that Yugi DID belong here now....because he's one of us now.  That's why he's here now....he belongs here."

"Master said.....that he's like us now......he didn't used to be, but now.....he is.....that's why Master sent her to get Yugi....."

".....yes........to get him.........he belonged...............here.............."

"But he doesn't!  It just seems like Yugi belongs here because he doesn't know  who he is right now--I'm sure it's not too late for him to remember!"

"Well....maybe.....seems like that COULD be right....."

"Yes....maybe it could, but....not sure...."

"...........not sure........"

"Please....I need your help.  If you don't help me Yugi might forget who he is forever."

Hikari, Getsu, and Yoru conferred quietly while Yami stood waiting very impatiently for them to reach a decision.

"Don't want him to forget....that seems....BAD....."

"........bad........"

"Yes...I guess.....I guess he really DOES have a name....we were wrong, he did belong in that other place.  He never belonged here...."

"We were just trying to help...."

"......just trying......."

"Yes, but....Master said that Yugi was like us now, and he IS.....but....what if....he isn't really....what if we did that?  What if.....what if we...."

            Hikari struggled to put what she felt into words.  The Lost had long forgotten how to take responsibility or think for themselves, but these three, having met Yugi and Yami, having traveled to the Outside, having considered things they had never thought of before, were now ready to do something extraordinary.

They were ready to make a decision for themselves.

Hikari took a deep breath.  She knew now what she wanted to say.

"We.....we belong here.  This is our place, and that's how it is.  There's nothing wrong with that....but....Yugi DOESN'T belong here....we talked to him in that other place because we thought he was like us....but he isn't.....he's.....an Outsider....he's special, but he still belongs where he came from in the first place...that other one came looking for him....we were wrong about no one from his home caring what happened to him.  He really DOES belong there....and now.....we have to help him get back.....because we brought him here, and we made him able to come himself....so now he IS like us....but he belongs Outside....and he's still like them inside....we can't bring him back, but....we should help this one.  ....okay?"

Getsu and Yoru looked at each other.  As far as they could remember, they had never made a decision before, but they were ready to now.

"....you're right....Yugi doesn't belong here, and.....and that other one is trying to help him.  So, we should help them......Master is right about Yugi being like us a little now, but.....he isn't really like us.  He's still like he used to be.....and we have to help him get......get......."

            Suddenly, unexpectedly, something amazing happened.  Yoru, who had before only been able to parrot what the others said and state things he had already heard, thought of something.  "....have to help him get.....home............"

            The other Lost looked at Yoru in surprise.  He didn't say things much, and he thought of things even less.  Contact with Yugi had changed them; it had made them more self-aware, so that although they were still Lost, they were less Lost than any other Lost in the Realm (except Ko).  As they all stood, having made a decision for the first time in a long time, Yami interrupted them.

"Well?  Will you help me?"

Hikari turned.  "....we'll take you to Master, but...."

"But what!?"  
Getsu began where Hikari had left off.  "But we do have one condition...."

At this point, Yami was getting desperate.  Whatever the Lost wanted him to do, if it would help Yugi, he would do it.

"WHAT!?"

Yoru stood forth.  Never before had he given the explanations; now, he was about to state the Lost's decision.

"But you have to promise....that you'll take care of Yugi."

This decision was all-important to the Lost, but to Yami it was bizarre that it had taken them so long to come up with one sentence.

"WHY DID YOU THINK I WAS HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE!?"

They looked at him curiously.

"Oh....you were here to help Yugi all along?"

"We didn't know that.....thought maybe you would hurt Yugi...."

".....you DID.....hurt Yugi...."

"Now, promise.  You HAVE to or we won't help you."

"I promise whatever you want, just come on--there isn't much time!"

The Lost looked contented.  "All right....let's go....

Hikari, Getsu, and Yoru, the three Lost who had spoken to Yugi, led Yami (and Ko) off through the Realm.  At last, they were going somewhere.  Now they could only hope that they weren't too late......


	20. Final Judgement

Chapter 20—Final Judgment                                                                                                                                                

            This place could not be called cold.  It might seem as though it _should_ be cold, _should_ be frigid and windy, filled with physical torments of all sorts.  That would have explained why there was nobody there.  But this place was not cold.  It was not anything.  That was what was wrong with it.  That was why there was nobody there.  It was because this place was empty and miserable, a torture that was not physical, but mental.  There was nothing here; even he wasn't really here, because he wasn't anything either.  Neither of them was anything; they were different from all of the other no ones here, because they realized this.  This didn't help them at all, for they still could not remember...could not know...could not _be_ anything.  There was nothing but nothingness, and although they both knew it, they could do nothing to change it.

            Someone stands beside a swirling vortex in what for lack of a better word could be called the ground.  The vortex is like a tornado, buried in the "ground;" it swirls with red-purple-black energy, the colors of Chaos.  No one knows what it is, because no one knows it is here.  No one remembers this vortex; no one knows what it is called.  Deep within the vortex, where no one ever looks, is an eye.  The Eye of the Void remembers one who dared to look into it, but that one was injured in a way no one could see.  An injury inside...just like the Void himself.  A secret within a secret, a puzzle never solved.  That is the Eye of the Void.

            Beside the Void stands someone, or rather a being that used to be someone.  It is nothing now, although it retains visual similarity to its former self, misty and vague as it is.  It is a small figure, doing nothing in particular--it doesn't know how to do things anymore.  It is a forlorn, lonely figure; fading away wasn't something it wanted to do, but now it can't prevent it.  This being--this almost-Lost--has a feeling it used to be something.  It has a feeling it used to exist somewhere.  It has a feeling this may be true, but it doesn't know anything for certain.  Maybe there is nothing to know anymore.  It doesn't matter now; everything is over, if anything ever started in the first place.

            It wasn't always this way; it is right in thinking that it used to be something, somewhere else.  There was a time, not very long ago at all, when it had an identity and a home.  This being, indefinable now as it fades more quickly with each passing moment, was someone else, someone some people considered important for some reasons.  Did it matter now?  There were some who might say it did.  There were some who remembered this one, some who might even be coming to help it.  Because this one is still someone, still just barely more than nothing.

For now, this one is Yugi.

Soon, he won't be anything.

*****

"Just how big is this place!?"

The three Lost, Ko, and Yami were wandering around the Realm of the Lost.  It was not their intention to wander, but that is how the Lost go places.  Of course, Yami didn't take very well to this method of travel.

"You know, when you said you would help me, I was hoping we could actually _go_ somewhere!"

The Lost trudged on patiently.

"We ARE going somewhere," Hikari said calmly, "We'll get to Master...eventually."

"We need to get there NOW.  There isn't much time!"

"Well.....here....there isn't any SOMEwhere, so....it's hard to get places.....because there are only two...."

"Shouldn't that make it easy to get places?"

"Well.....there are other things that aren't anything....but they're always CHANGing...."

"So how do you get anywhere?"

"Don't worry--I think we're close."

"Yes.......we're almost to Master........."

"............almost........."

Ko said nothing.  He had been very quiet since his return to the Realm of the Lost, but no one noticed.  Yami was too preoccupied with trying to go somewhere as opposed to nowhere, and the Lost had trouble noticing anything.  In fact, none of them really noticed Ko trailing along after them.  The Lost knew that they were getting closer to Master; they just didn't know exactly how close.  The Realm of the Lost is actually a very strange part of the Wilds, so it retains many Wild characteristics.  It too is a place full of random matter and energy; the Realm's matter and energy, however, is largely inert.  It exists, but it fails to do anything else.  Despite this, the Realm can be a confusing place because everything within it that has no definite form--which is almost everything--shifts at random.  Therefore, the distances between the two places in the Realm (Master, a.k.a. the Void, the The Place) change, and there isn't any definite way to get anywhere.  It was understandable that the Lost never went anywhere very quickly, but of course Yami didn't understand that at all.

"COULD WE GO SOMEWHERE FOR ONCE!?"

"TOLD you.  We ARE going somewhere.  We'll be there soon enough....you have to be patient."

"Yes.....we'll get there.....we said we'd help you and we are."

"........so........don't worry.........."

"But--"

"But nothing.  We'll get there, you'll see."

They walked on.  Would they get somewhere?  Yes, eventually.  Would they get there in time?  That was another matter entirely.

*****

            _Who.....am I?_

Silence.  It was always silent here.  There was nothing...literally.  This place was the incarnation of nothingness.  But....if this place was nothing....

_...how can I be here....unless....I'm nothing too....?_

Questions without answers...they didn't belong here either.  This was a place of no questions, and no answers.  It didn't matter here.  Nothing did....nothing............

_Am I.....anything?_

Answers...did they matter?  No, nothing else did in this place...why should answers that didn't exist matter either?  Nothing did.  Nothing.

_But....why am I here?_

Maybe there was a reason; maybe there wasn't.  It didn't matter, just like everything else didn't matter.  No answer there...but there weren't answers anywhere, so that was all right.  Or....was it?  Maybe.  It didn't matter either....did it?

_How did I get here?  Or....was I always here?_

Who knew?  Answers don't exist in this place.  They don't matter...nothing did, wasn't that clear by now?  It seemed true enough...but was it?  It didn't matter.  Nothing mattered.

_....why am I still here?_

Now that--that might matter....maybe?  Just maybe....it was hard to say.  But.....if nothing mattered....why should this?

_Should I even be anywhere?  Should I even exist?_

That definitely seemed like it mattered.  After all, if existence didn't matter, there was no reason to keep existing...it was so hard already.

_Why do I have to stay here?_

Was there any other place?  No, there couldn't be.  It didn't matter even if there was...did it?  Why stay here?  Why stay anywhere?  Why was it necessary to keep existing?

_....maybe I don't have to._

Maybe...it didn't matter....maybe existence was just one more option better left alone.  After all...if nothing mattered, why bother?  Existence was so hard--why do it?

_Maybe......if I stop trying to stay here....I can leave._

But where else could there be?  Maybe there wasn't anywhere else.  It didn't matter.  Even not existing had to be better than this place....didn't it?  But that didn't matter either.  All that mattered was knowing whether it was worth existing anymore.

_.....it would be so much easier.....to just give up...._

Yes...it would be easier.  Why stay in a place if it doesn't matter at all?  Why do it?  There was no reason to....it wasn't necessary....it didn't matter.....it would be better....to just stop trying to stay.  There was no reason to exist.  There was no reason to care about anything at all.  There was no reason......it didn't matter.....it would be better to just give up.

_Maybe.......it would be better....not to be here....anymore....._

*****

"I thought you said we were close!"

"Well...we ARE close....but....."

"But WHAT!?"

"But......we don't know how close."

"And.....we're getting there.....so don't worry.....we're helping you just like we said we would."

"Okay, okay.....but isn't there some way we could at least go _faster_?  I'm kind of in a hurry...."

"You shouldn't be.....if you rush things, you'll only make more mistakes...you need to slow down....do you even know what you're going to do when we find Master?"

"Well, no, but....FIND!?  WHAT DO YOU MEAN, FIND!?"

"Well, now that we're close we just have to figure out where Master is."

"But--but--"

"After all...since we CAME from The Place, and Master is very very far away from The Place, it's longer than if it was shorter."

"But....that doesn't make any sense....that's completely meaningless!"

"Don't ask questions if you don't want us to answer them."

"But--I--"

"Shh!  We're TRYing to find out where Master is!"

*****

            The Master was thinking.  Always, he was thinking.  There was nothing else he _could_ do but wonder at his own identity, wonder at the purpose of anything...he was not a happy soul.  The Lost were right in saying that Master was always sad, as they thought of him.  He was lonely....he was confused...he was miserable.

_Why....why am I here....what is my purpose?  Or...do I have a purpose?  I must...all things have purpose.  But...is there anything?  Everything is only more nothingness!  How can there be a reason for it all...?  How can there be anything?  I don't know...I don't know...was there a time when I knew?  Was there a time when this mattered?  It doesn't matter now...nothing does!  But...if that is true, then why am _I_ still here?  Why can't I leave this place?  Why do I feel like I must continue this pointless existence?  They don't understand....how can they?  They are nothing, just like everything else.  Am....I nothing too?  Or...am I different?  I don't feel like I am nothing--I feel....like I used to be something....but why do I feel this way?  Why......why......................_

            Master didn't know who he was.  Master didn't know why he existed.  But there was something...something that was not nothing.  Something he remembered...

*flashback*

There was someone...but why?  There wasn't anyone or anything here...how could this be?  He had come out of nowhere...Master could not understand.

_Who are you?_

The someone looked as around, not knowing that Master had spoken.  Again, Master called to him.

_Who are you?_

The someone looked at the Void--at Master.

_Who are you?_

"....my name is Yugi.  Who are you?"

Master was surprised.  Someone with a name?  Wanting to know who he was?

_I don't know._

"How did you get here?"

Master was confused.  He didn't know....the answer....

_I have always been here....or wait--perhaps not?  I do not know...my identity is unknown to me; I am nothing...yet still I must be something, or how else am I here...?  They call me Master, I know not why.  What am I Master of?  Them?  No...they do not know me.  No one does....no one wishes to._

"Well--I'd want to know you."

Master was surprised; he couldn't understand these words.

_....why?_

"I don't know...I still don't really know who you are."

He didn't know?  But...how could he want to know someone for no reason?

_I cannot tell you who I am....I don't know myself.  But, I am here, as I have always been--an eye within...always watching, but there is nothing to see.  No one would dare to look upon me, and so I see nothing._

"Why won't anyone look at you?"

Why did he want to know?  Who would want to know anything about Master?  ....about him?__

_Even if they knew that I existed, still they would hate me...I am a shadow of doom on the horizon to them...._

"I don't hate you."

How could this someone not hate him?  ....how could anyone not hate him?  Master couldn't remember, but he was sure there had been a time when he had known other someones....and they had all hated him....

_You are not yet aware of what I am, so you cannot logically hate me...but since when is hate logical?  Since when is malice governed by order..._

Master was sure whoever it was would leave soon...what else could they do here?  What reason could they have to stay?  But, to his surprise, this someone who said his name was Yugi did something no one else had ever done.  He stepped to the edge of the Void and looked within it.

Within the Void was a single eye.  This was Master; he was the Eye of the Void, but of course he did not know that.  His eye turned to this one that so strangely wanted to know who he was.  But even as those two very different gazes met, the one--the only one who ever dared to look into the Void--shattered apart like glass.  Yugi's mind had returned to his physical body, but Master could not know that.  He felt guilty to have so harmed someone who had no ill will towards him....and.....

He felt lonely....again.

*end flashback*

Master had sensed the presence of this one again...but now, that presence was fading.  What could he do?  Nothing.  Just like everything else in the Realm of the Lost.  But the one belonged here...his presence had become like that of Master and the Lost.  So....whatever was happening was all right....wasn't it?

*****

            _.....maybe....it would be better......not to be here anymore...._

Maybe.....it would be better.....to stop fighting.....why stay here?  It didn't matter...did it?  No....nothing mattered.  Why stay here any longer?  Why stay _anywhere_ any longer?

_....it would so much easier...to stop fighting....._

It would be easier...not to resist leaving altogether....why stay?  There was no reason.  He didn't have to stay.  Why do it?

_.....there's no reason to exist anymore....I don't have to stay here...._

He didn't have to stay--he could leave....he could be free of all the endless, answerless questions, of all the nothingness of this place....he didn't have to stay.  He wouldn't stay.  He wouldn't stay....he would just stop existing.  It would be so easy....no one would care.  There was no reason not to........but...........

_..........no.......I can't give up!_

But why not?  Why not give up?  Why stay here any longer?  It didn't matter....there was no reason to....it would be better not to exist....

"...that's not true!  I have to keep fighting....I _refuse_ to give up!"

*****

"Please tell me we're here."

"Yes....we're here."

"Really?  Wow--I was expecting you to say 'almost' again."

"Don't be silly!  You need to focus....what you have to do won't be easy....."

"Yes.......and....only you can do this.....no one else can.  We can't help you....all we could do is bring you here, so we have....."

".........the rest........is up........to you........."

"Remember to be polite to Master."

"And remember your promise....it will help you....if you can remember....and........."

"...............good luck.........."

"Thank you....and goodbye."

"Goodbye......and remember...."

"....I will."

*****

            Someone was coming.  Master could sense a presence...strangely, it reminded him of the one, but....it was different.  Who could this stranger be?  Master had a feeling he would know soon enough.

            Yami didn't think this 'place' looked any different than the rest of the Realm, but he had to trust the Lost's judgment.  Stepping forward, cautiously for once in his life.  And that was when he saw it....

It was like a red-purple-black tornado buried in the ground.  It was made of swirling energy, shifting constantly in different directions.  What _was_ that thing?

_Who are you?_

Yami didn't respond; he was immediately on alert for an enemy he couldn't see.  It might seem odd, considering that Master had as of yet done nothing to harm him, but to Yami, innocent until proven guilty didn't apply.

_Who are you?_

"Who wants to know!?"

_You came here; you should give your name first.  That's the way it goes...or maybe not.  I don't remember anymore..._

"I'm not telling you who I am until I know who you are!"

_You aren't very polite.  Very well...as you wish, I will tell you who I am, as far as I can remember...the Lost call me Master.  Who I truly am, I can't say, because....I don't know..._

"YOU'RE Master!?  But...I thought that the Master of the Lost...would _be_ a Lost...!"

_So...you know about me?  Have you met the Lost, then...?_

The voice sounded apathetic, but not in an uncaring way; it was more like the speaker had forgotten how to care.  Unlike Yugi, however, Yami didn't feel sorry for the Master of the Lost; he was still suspicious of this mysterious voice that _said_ it was Master.  He had, of course, forgotten the Lost's advice to be polite to Master.

"If you're the Master of the Lost, then where are you!?"

_I am before you._

"Then...that vortex..."

_Yes.  Be careful; those who look within the Void suffer greatly.  The only one to look upon me for my sake experienced this to his cost._

"...huh?"

_Why have you come here?_

"I'm looking for someone."

_All within the Realm is nothing.  Are you sure there is someone here?_

"Very sure."

_Who is it that you seek?_

"I need to find Yugi."

"I think.......that's _my _name........"

_Is it?  I didn't know._

"Well......I'm probably wrong......"

Yugi was standing, from Yami's perspective, slightly behind the Void, and he was very faint.  His outline seemed to be blending into the nothingness of the Realm around him.  His voice was barely a whisper; everything about him was fading away.

"Yugi!"

Yugi turned slightly.  "....is that...._really_ my name....?"

"But--I thought you remembered your name!"

".....did I....?"

"Yes!"

"....then I...was right...that _is_....my name.....I wasn't sure.....about that......"

_So your name is Yugi after all...when you weren't sure, I thought perhaps it wasn't._

"....yes...I _was_ right...but.....it doesn't matter.....nothing matters....does it....?"

"That's not true!"

"It isn't?"  For a fraction of a second, Yugi looked happy about this.  Sadly, it didn't last long.  "....even if it matters.....it won't.....for much longer....."

"Why not?" Yami asked with a sinking feeling.

"Because......I don't think I'll have to stay here.....much longer......"

_Yes...I can feel you fading away.  There's nothing I can do...you have become as we are...._

"No--you can't disappear!  I came to bring you back."

"...back...where.......?"

"Back home!"

"......I don't.....remember........."

_I didn't think you had a home._

"I......don't.........do I.....?"

"Yes you do!  You have to remember!"

"But........I can't......"

"Well TRY!"

Yugi looked anguished.  "I....DID try......but...........I can't.......remember........what if.....I never forgot anything......in the first place.....?"

_That's true.  If you had a home once, I'm sure you would remember it._

"Yes.....that must......be true......"

Listening to Yugi and Master talk to each other was very strange to Yami; Yugi sounded almost as if he was having trouble speaking at all.  This was indeed the case; as Yugi faded away, he had more and more trouble interacting with anyone or anything.  It was hard enough just to cling to identity and existence, let alone speak.

"Master, you have to listen to me!  Yugi has a home, and he isn't a Lost!  He just kind of....forgot that.  If you don't let him leave this place he'll disappear forever!"

_Why should I believe you?  The one does not remember you or anything you speak of.  You must be mistaken...._

"I'm not mistaken!  I may not know anything about this place or you, but I know this much is true--Yugi doesn't belong here!"

_Well...perhaps you are correct, perhaps you are not...I'm not certain._

"You have to believe me, I'm telling the truth!"

_How can I be sure?  If you speak the truth, then the one must go with you, for the sake of his life.  But if you do not...then it should not be so.  What can I do?_

"Please, believe me...Yugi's life depends on it."__

_This is only true if your other statements are also true.  There must be a way...._

The Void lapsed into silence while he thought, while Yami paced back and forth impatiently (and very worriedly).  He had good reason to hurry--as time passed, Yugi's outline grew more and more indistinct.  At last, the colors of the Void shifted as the Master thought of something.

_Stranger...if you do know the one, then he must go with you.  Before that can happen, however, I must see that you are telling the truth.  I know what I must do.  If I am to let the one go with you, you must pass my final judgment..._


	21. Memories

Author's note:  Sorry this chapter took so long!  It took me a while to write the whole thing--it's extra-long.  Thank you to everyone who reviewed!  Serafinamoon-I'm glad you liked it!  Hopefully Master's identity is clearer now.  Yep, here's the final judgment.  ^___^    Mitsuko-chan-yep, he has to pass a judgment.from a guy who can't even remember who he is!  I'm glad you like it!   ^___^__

Chapter 21--Memories

            "...judgment?"

_Yes...if you speak the truth, then you shall pass.  But if you do not...._

"Then what?"

_Then I shall take my retribution for your dishonesty.  Will you try to pass my judgment, or will you leave now?_

"I don't care what your 'final judgment' is--if it'll save Yugi, I'll do it."

_Very well.  My judgment is simple.  In order for me to know that you speak truly, there is something you must do...if you really are telling me the truth, then you will be successful.  If you are _not_ telling the truth, then--_

"Look, I already know that!  Just tell me what it is you want me to do!"

_As you wish...if I am to know that the one truly knows you and you are correct in saying that he is not one of us, then you must prove this.  If what you say is true, then he must know what you speak of.  If he has some knowledge of wherever it is you say he comes from and whoever you say he is, then I will know you speak the truth.  But if you fail.....then you are lying.  And I do not tolerate intruders who lie......_

"Fine," Yami muttered to himself.  Master's task was actually much more difficult than he himself thought; Yami knew that in order for Yugi to know who he was, his memory would have to be restored.  But...how was he supposed to do that?

            The Eye of the Void (a.k.a. Master) fell silent.  His mind was elsewhere while he waited for something to happen.  Yami, meanwhile, was trying to figure out what exactly he needed to do in order to restore Yugi's memory.

"Great....now what am I supposed to do?  How can I possibly make Yugi remember who he is?"

Yugi watched his Guardian partner (although he didn't remember that right now) silently.  He didn't really understand what this stranger was talking about, but he was sure that they had just said his name.

".....who....are you....?"

Yami looked sadly at the smaller figure behind him.  Yugi's time was running out; the longer he stayed here, the more he would fade away, until he finally ceased to exist.  He had to do something...but what?

".....who....are you...?"

"...my name is Yami."

"But....who _are_....you...?"

_Not this again_, Yami thought to himself.

"I'm....well, I'm....well, I'm your friend."

"....I don't....remember...."

"I know....that's why I'm here."

"....why...?"

"To make you remember who you are."

"Oh....so....who am I...?"

"I'm not sure how to explain...you're just _you_.  What am I supposed to tell you?"

"...tell me...how I got here...."

"That, I can explain.  There were a bunch of weird people who talked to you, and now you're here."

"...._why_...?"

"Okay, maybe I _can't_ explain...."

".......oh......"

"Wait--I can tell something _else_, just...not that."

"Then....tell me...where I was..._before...._I got here...."

Asking Yami to explain this--or most things, really--was a lost cause, especially with Yugi being almost Lost, but the spirit tried anyway.

"Well, you live in this other World--"

"What's...that...?"

"Look, just work with me here, okay?  Anyway...

            You live in another World.  Well, not _another_ World, this might not even _be_ a World for all I know, and--"

"What about...the World..._I_ come from...?"

"Oh right...sorry 'bout that.  Our World--"

"_Our_...World...?"

"Yeah, I live there too.  Now stop interrupting me!  As I was _saying_, our World doesn't have an official name, at least not that I know of.  Oh, and you're a Guardian.  And you live on an island."

"...island...?"

"Yeah, an island.  You know, big piece of land surrounded by water.  Actually, it's pretty boring even for an island...I think the only thing it's famous for is being the most insignificant place in the world.  That's really kind of funny...the Guardian of the entire World being born in the least important part of it."

"...you...live there too...?"

"Well...basically, yeah."

"......so....if I...live _there_...why am I...here...?"

"I'm not really sure, but...I think it was because those people started talking to you after we got home from finding the Key."

"....Key...?"

"Yeah, the Key of Aramas.  It does something, don't ask me what--I have no idea.  Vice wanted us to get it, so I guess it must useful _somehow_."

"...Vice...?"

"Oh...you don't remember him, right?  We met him in Dark World."

"...why...were we...in Dark World...?"

"Because Benjamin was dying.  Or maybe he was just injured, he ended up surviving..."

"...Benjamin...?"

"He lives in Dark World.  He's only half Darkling, though--he's half human too.  He's a Guardian, like you.  He and Bikaymon, that is."

"....how...did we...meet _them_...?"

"At Duelist Kingdom...Benjamin just kind of ended up there.  I'm not entirely sure how...I guess he got sent to our World accidentally."

"...Duelist Kingdom...?"

"Yeah, a whack job named Pegasus was trying to steal something from you so we had to go there.  Well, you had to go there--I wasn't completely there at that point.  I mean, I was, but I didn't know that.  Or maybe I did....wait...now I'm confused..."

"....me too....."

"Oops.  Sorry...."

".....who...was Pegasus...?"

"This creepy guy...he had the Millennium Eye, so he could read people's minds--real psychopath.  He wanted to steal the Millennium Puzzle, so he would have more magic, so--"

"....magic...?"

"Yes, magic, the Millennium Items are magical.  You have magic too, actually, and I think so do I.  Anyway...his magic eye trapped people's souls in the Shadowrealm--don't ask me what that is because I have no clue--and focused them through cards--that's like pieces of paper.  So, he captured your grandfather's soul--"

"...who...?"

_This could be harder than I thought..._

"Your grandfather.  You know...the father of your father...oh, never mind.  The important thing is, you went to rescue him.  Your friends went too."

"...who....are they...?"

This was a bad question to ask Yami; he disliked Yugi's friends on the grounds that they didn't like him, or at least they wouldn't like him if they that knew he existed.  It wasn't particularly just, but Yami wasn't a very just person.

"A bunch of losers who didn't help you at all.  Not that they're bad people or anything..."

"....so....why...did Pegasus...want us...to go there..?"

"How should I know?  He was nuts..."

".....how....did Benjamin...get there...?"

"Well, I think he accidentally Gated into our World.  I wasn't there when he did, obviously, but he told me about it...."

*Benjamin's arrival*

"Hey--look over there!"                                                                                                                                                        

            Two of Pegasus' men were wandering through the woods near their master's castle.  They were making sure that things went according to plan, and everything was just as it should be...until suddenly, something unexpected happened.

There was a strange light, and two figures slammed into a tree as they came shooting out of a large, swirling hole made of....energy?  The two henchmen had never seen anything like it before.  One of the figures was a small, thin child, half-conscious even _before_ he slammed head-first into a tree.  The child, having slid down his unexpected landing site, lay on the ground, bleeding.  Next to him was.....

"What is that thing!?"

            It was a bizarre creature, almost round in shape, with two bat-like wings extending from its "shoulders" (or the sides more towards the top of the ball), and two scaly legs ending in clawed feet extending from the bottom.  It struggled to a "standing" position, and the guards were shocked to see that it had large, surprisingly intelligent eyes and a small, fang-filled mouth.  To their further surprise, it turned to the boy lying next to it and nudged him with its wing--_speaking_.

"Ben!  Ben!"

The two men stood in silent disbelief.  Years of training, however, made them almost unconsciously call their master on their communicators.

*****

            Back in his castle, Pegasus, his long, white hair hiding one eye, sat in an otherwise empty dining room.  He looked up in annoyance when yet another servant came in.

"Sir, one of the border patrols has just called in.  They say they must speak to you directly...should I put them on?"

"Hmm...very well.  But this had better be important."

The two men's voices crackled in.

"Mr. Pegasus sir, you told us to inform you if anything happened, and..."

"Yes?  And _what_?  What is so important that you _had_ to disturb me?"

"Sir...there's something here like nothing we've ever seen before!"

"Really?" Pegasus asked, sounding faintly interested.  "Bring it to me at once."

"Yes, sir!"

Putting down the phone, Pegasus smiled maliciously.  

"This should be amusing..."

His hidden eye glinted, as if it was metal.  Pegasus' servant, Kroquet, fled the room.  He knew all too well the powers of his master's Millennium Eye...

*****

            The two men approached Benjamin and Bikaymon cautiously.

"Should we take the kid too?" one whispered.

"Nah," the other replied, "Master Pegasus will only want to see that _thing_...come on..."

            Benjamin slowly forced himself to stand, gritting his teeth against the pain he felt in his entire body.  Dark World was a dangerous place to live, and the Shadow War had only made that worse.  Looking up, he saw two _humans_ approaching.  He snarled at them, preparing to draw his sword and attack them.  The two men, although they were daunted by the shining blade the scrawny child brought forth, had only to tackle him, slowed as he was by his injuries.  Grabbing the creature next to him, they raced towards the castle.  Master Pegasus would be very pleased....

*end flashback*

"...and so Benjamin needed to get to the castle to rescue Bikaymon.  Of course, it wasn't easy--Pegasus decided to steal Bikaymon's soul, and since Guardian partners share a connection _between_ their souls, it was like Benjamin lost half of his soul--half of himself.  That's probably why he wasn't...entirely sane...when he met us."

"...how...did he....meet us...?"

"Well, we were heading to the castle too, since you had to rescue your grandfather's soul.  But, in order to get in, we needed ten of these star thingys that you could only get by beating people in a duel--that's a game you play with cards.  See, we had ten of the star things, but we couldn't get in because this idiot named Kaiba wanted to duel us first.  Well, really he wanted to duel _you_, he didn't know about me."

".....why...didn't he...know...about you...?"

"I didn't really know about me either, back then.  He still doesn't know about me since he can't see me--he doesn't have spirit sight, and I'm a spirit, so..."

"...._you_...didn't know...about you....?  ....why not...?"

"I'm not really sure why, but I was more like a reflection of you than a separate person when you first met me.  Or maybe more like a darker version of you...I wouldn't know.  But, for some reason, the more time I spent with you, the better I got at manifesting myself and stuff like that.  Actually, that was probably only the second time or so that you really talked to me."

"....why...?"

"You didn't really know about me either--you just knew that there was _something_ special about the Millennium Puzzle.  Maybe you had already guessed that I existed...I don't know."

"....puzzle...?"

"Yeah, basically a three-d puzzle shaped like a pyramid.  Nobody could put it together for 3000 years, so I was just kind of inside my mind all that time.  _Really_ boring, especially since I forgot practically everything I knew.  I mean, you'd think I could at least have a _yo-yo_ or something, but no--just a big, dangerous mind with nothing to do."

".....huh?"

"Don't ask...."

Yugi didn't know why, but he wanted to know what happened next in the story.

"...but...how did _we_...meet Benjamin...?"

"Remember, Benjamin needed to get to the castle, and we were right outside it, so he ended up on top of this kind of terrace with us.  It was pretty high off the ground, which was really a shame...we would've won if it hadn't been so high up."

"....why...?"

"See, we were playing this game with Kaiba--he wanted to duel you because you already beat him once and he was really bitter about it.  Psycho...but anyway.  At the end, he didn't want to lose, so he stood on top of the wall, or maybe the battlement--I'm not sure what you'd call it.  He said that we could go ahead and attack him to win the duel, but the shockwave from his holographic system--he built this thing that projected everything holographically, I don't know why he has this much spare time--might knock him off the wall, and he could die or be seriously injured."

"....so...we didn't attack...?"

"Uh....kind of...."

"....what do you mean....?"

"You didn't want to attack him...you said it was too dangerous, but I said we should.  Actually, I kind of almost _forced_ you to attack him...you stopped me, though.  Benjamin showed up right before that, so he didn't really know what was going on, but he thought it was really dishonorable to beat someone by doing what Kaiba did--which was _cheating_, by the way--and he went sort of crazy."

"....crazy...?"

"Yeah...it was really something, especially since none of us knew about the Multiverse then.  I don't remember it that well, since I was kind of...not there...but this is what happened."

*flashback*

We're going to win.

            I know that we are; there are no moves left that our opponent can make to defeat us.  Yes, we're going to win.  Perhaps "we" isn't quite right; after all, Duel Monsters isn't meant to be played two-on-one.  It would be cheating if we did that.  It's more like "I" than "we," in fact it really _is_ I; two minds working as one, through magic, is equivalent to one person.  I should know--I never cheat.

            I looked across at our opponent.  Seto Kaiba is definitely looking nervous--he knows as well as I do that he can't win.  He knows that he's lost, lost _again_, I might add; no matter what he says, we beat him fair and square in our first duel together, and it's his problem that he still can't accept that.  He's played his most powerful monster--the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon--and we're beating him with the weakest creature in Duel Monsters, Kuriboh, a few magic cards along with a few other monsters, still fairly weak, and a strategy; that was something Kaiba, in my opinion, would never have.  

            To an outsider, it looks like just a game.  A very interesting game to watch, yes, on a great holographic system (designed by my opponent in fact), but still just a game.  It doesn't matter who wins or loses, just as long as everyone has fun, right?

Wrong.  It's more than a game.  It's life and death--no, it's the fate of someone's _soul_.  This isn't a game anymore.  Losing isn't an 

option, because if you _lose_...

Someone you love will lose their soul forever.

            But that doesn't matter, because we're going to win.  Pegasus won't get away with stealing souls, the twisted madmen.  He'll pay...just as soon as we finish off this idiot, which we're going to do in our next turn.  No matter what card Kaiba draws, we can still attack and destroy one of the three heads of the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon we've already weakened, bringing Kaiba's life-points to zero.  What could possibly go wrong?

I had to ask, didn't I?

            I guess I was right about him knowing he was going to lose--what I didn't realize is that he isn't willing to let that happen.  But...what's he doing?  ...walking backwards?  To the edge of the building?  ...is he going to jump?  But how will killing himself help him win?  Idiot...

            Oh, wait.  He's stopped...but he's stopped right on the top of the wall--the parapet, I think you call it.  That's dangerous--he should get down from there, what does he think he's going to accomplish? 

"You could attack me and win this duel, Yugi.  But if you do that, the resulting shockwave _might_ cause me to lose my balance."

But...he can't do that!  That's cheating...that's dangerous!  He can't do that...can he?

"It doesn't matter what card I draw next...ah, a magic card--Monster Reborn.  I'll use it to resurrect the head of my dragon that you already destroyed--and it comes back at full strength.  So go ahead and make your move, Yugi...if you don't attack me now, I'll finish you off next turn!"

This can't be happening...he can't be serious, can he?  What kind of crazy plan is this?  If we attack, he could....

"I can stand up here all day, Yugi."

            There's no other way...we have to attack.  We can't afford to lose--there's too much at stake here, and it's not _certain_ that he'll fall--it's just a _chance_, that's all.  Besides...it's not like he'd be a big loss even if he did lose his balance.  I may not like it (much), but...we have no choice.

Of course, Yugi doesn't really see it that way.

            Sure, two minds in one body _sounds_ easy, and it is if you have magic like we do.  Of course, that only helps if you _agree_ on what 

you're going to do...

_I can't do this!_

_I must._

_No--it's too risky!_

We_ must._

_There must be another way..._

_There _isn't_._

            Okay, so maybe it isn't the best thing I've ever done...there really isn't any other way, I'm sure of it.  If we don't attack, we'll lose, and we _can't_ lose.  He probably won't even get hurt...

"Yugi, you can't do this!  It's too risky!"

            Oh right...Yugi's friends don't want him to kill someone either.  Well he may not even die!  _I_ say we should attack him.  That's the only choice and that's just how it is.  Nothing can change that.

*****

            ....ow...that wasn't fun...okay, so maybe I was pushing it to actually _force_ Yugi to attack Kaiba, but still....he didn't have to _stop_ me.  Or maybe he did.  How would I know?  I was just trying to help....darn.  Now I'm back inside the Millennium Puzzle, or more accurately, inside my mind.  I still know what's going on though--as long as the bearer of the Millennium Puzzle (that's Yugi) is conscious, I have a pretty good idea of what's happening to them.  Yugi forced me out of his mind...I guess I should have seen that coming.  And we ended up losing, too...sure, maybe we didn't (or really he didn't) kill Kaiba, but still--_now_ how are we supposed to stop Pegasus?  Huh?

"....I can never duel again."

            Hey--come on, I wasn't _really_ going to kill him!  He probably wouldn't have fallen...how much of a shockwave can a hologram have?  Stupid holographic duel system...why'd Kaiba have to go and build it in the first place?  You can't stop dueling...we still have to beat Pegasus, remember?  How can you completely give up on that?  I was just trying to help....it's not like I really did anything _wrong_...right?  Right?  ....and just so you know....I'm sorry....

            But of course Yugi can't hear me; he's completely blocked me out of his mind.  Okay, so I _was_ in the wrong there--I even admit it!  It's not like I just felt like killing Kaiba or something....there wasn't any other way, that's all...I didn't _mean_ it....

            Huh?  Who's _that_?  I'm sure they weren't here before--some scrawny kid wearing a black coat and what looks like the contents of a rag shop.  There's blood on the ground over there...could it be his?  He looks crazy, and furious....and....he looks heartbroken too.  He's just watching them argue with Kaiba...what's he so angry about?

"If Yugi had the courage to do what has to be done, it would be him going into the castle right now, not me."

"At least Yugi has _friends_!"

"And look at all the good that did him."

            He's really messing with the wrong person there...Tea might strangle him for that one.  But that kid is walking over...no one else seems to know how he got here either.  I still can't figure out why he's angry, but I can see who he's angry at--Kaiba.  If I was that idiot right now, I'd be running for my life...but only if I was an idiot like him--_I_ never run from anything.

"What would you know about honor--what would you know about friendship!"

            There's blood on his face...he looks like he's completely insane.  Either Kaiba's got ice for blood, or he's even stupider than I thought, to be talking to someone who looks like that.

"Any friend of _yours_ would be in trouble, brat."

            Whoa--the crazy kid just _attacked_ Kaiba!  He's so small and thin, who knew he was that strong?  He just jumped on Kaiba...he's shaking him and screaming at him, half in English and half in some other language.  There's only one part that's even remotely understandable...

"I didn't mean to kill him!  I DIDN'T MEAN TO KILL HIM!"

CRACK

            It's incredible--he just punched Kaiba in the face, I swear he broke his nose--Kaiba's lucky that wall is there, or he would have been knocked off the building.  Yeah, it's definitely broken; bleeding all over the place, and it looks pretty painful.  Kaiba's _dead_ if that kid can break bone with one hit.  But...what's he doing?  He's...he's crying...he doesn't look as crazy now...and...he's walking over to Kaiba?  The kid looks like he's having trouble breathing...

"Godesai-ka..."

Kaiba looks terrified, and I have to admit--I'd be scared too if someone like that was standing over me.

"What!?"

But that kid doesn't look angry anymore...he looks sad.

"....I'm sorry."

            Now...he touched Kaiba, just for a second, and there was a light...and...the bone healed?  But...that's not possible--it was broken!  Could it be...did the kid heal it?  If he did, it can't have been easy--he stepped back, and now he just collapsed on the ground, it looks like he can't stand up.  He's coughing...how did he get all those injuries?  I can't understand it...and neither does Kaiba.  Idiot--just got up and ran off into the castle, he doesn't even want to know what just happened.  Now the kid is whispering something...and all of Yugi's friends are walking over to see what's wrong with him.  ...what's he saying?

"....Myounichi.........."

*end flashback*

"...so that's how we met Benjamin.  Pretty crazy, huh?  I wish you remembered it, even if it wasn't exactly the best day of your life..."

            The spirit looked at Yugi.  He was fainter than ever, his outline blurring into the surrounding vagueness of the Realm until it looked like that place of nothingness would swallow him up.  He was struggling to concentrate, mostly because he wanted to hear the end of this story that seemed so familiar...

His story, if only he could remember that.

"....so....what happened....next...?"

"Well, we did end up getting into that castle I told you about--another friend of yours helped us get more star chips after you lost some of yours to Kaiba, which wouldn't happened if that lousy _cheater_ hadn't threatened to make you _kill_ him......I'm going off topic again, huh?  Sorry 'bout that...anyway, once we got inside, Pegasus dueled Kaiba.  Of course, we both knew it wouldn't be easy--Pegasus had magic, and Kaiba didn't know it.  Pegasus read Kaiba's mind with his Millennium Eye, so he knew all the cards in Kaiba's hand and all the moves he planned through the entire duel...there was no way he could win, and of course he didn't.  He lost, and he didn't just lose a game--his brother's soul would stay trapped in the Shadowrealm, and Pegasus said he would take Kaiba's soul too."

".....did....he...?"

"Yeah...and he ended up getting one more in the bargain."

"Will you...tell me.....what happened.....?"

"For you, anything.  See, when Pegasus said he was going to steal Kaiba's soul, Benjamin went nuts again.  He had woken up by this time, and strangely enough, he seemed okay, despite the fact that he had been bleeding all over the place just a short while before.  His eyes were still miserable, though...no one really wanted to look at him because they were just a little bit afraid.  No one but you, of course.  Anyway, here's what happened....

*flashback*

            I have to admit--I may not like Kaiba, but I still feel bad for him...he lost to Pegasus, just like I thought he would.  After all, how could he beat the owner of the Millennium Eye and the creator of Duel Monsters at his own game?  But even so...I feel sorry for him.

When you lose to Pegasus, you lose much more than a game.

            As it turned out, the reason Kaiba was so determined to beat us--that is, to beat Yugi--was because his little brother's soul had been captured.  And now...Mokuba's soul would stay trapped in the Shadowrealm.

"But don't worry, Kaiba-boy--I won't leave you alone in this world to carry on!"

            What's he talking about!?  He's pulling out a blank card...he's going to trap Kaiba's soul too!  Man, I don't like the guy, but I wouldn't wish this on anyone.  But wait--what's this?  Benjamin jumped up on the railing of the balcony we're standing on over the dueling arena--he looks every bit as angry as when he attacked Kaiba, but this time it's even more frightening, because he looks completely in control of himself.  He isn't wild with rage anymore...his eyes are so cold, they could burn you.

"Pegasus, you filthy, dishonorable scum!  How dare you try to steal the soul of one who fights for another!?  How dare you do this!?  Your heart is as decayed and cold as a dead star, Pegasus; but you have none of its honor in death!"

Pegasus is just smirking at him, but he looks a little perturbed underneath that calm, cool front.

"Really?  That's all very _amusing_, little boy, but I'm afraid there's nothing you can do to stop me.  Hahahaha!"

Benjamin is scowling at him--he looks enraged now.

"I _will_ fight you, Pegasus--I will not let you go unchallenged!"

            He's holding out his hands, eyes shut in concentration...what's happening!?  There's a light coming from Pegasus' Millennium Eye, but it isn't touching Kaiba--it's focusing on Benjamin!  And his soul isn't being stolen...he's _absorbing_ the magic!  Pegasus cries out in pain, but not Benjamin--he has a warrior's heart.  He just clenches his fists and grits his teeth, taking it...taking on that pain...one of Pegasus' goons runs over to stop Benjamin, or do something--I don't think he had any idea what he was going to do.  But he slams into Yugi, who's already 

standing next to Benjamin, worried about him because even though they've known each other less than an hour they're already friends. 

 And now everyone goes crazy.

            The goon knocked Yugi down, but his friend Joey (a psycho if I ever saw one) tackles him, thinking the guy's trying to hurt Yugi, and so the other henchmen standing around come to help _their_ buddy, and of course Yugi's other friends jump in to help _their_ friends, and everyone is fighting each other.  Now the best part--Kaiba tackles _Pegasus_, probably because it's his only chance of freeing his brother's soul.  Pegasus can't even fight back with his magic being pulled out of him like this, he's in danger of being strangled--this is insane!  Not that I think it's a bad idea or anything...

            But of course this couldn't last for long--Benjamin was already injured before he did this, and he's getting tired.  He finally collapses...and all the magic he was trying to absorb hits him full-force.  ...no!  His soul is gone too!  He did it to help someone who didn't care one bit about him...and he was willing to lose his soul for it...I've never seen anything like it.  And now Pegasus has his magic back...Kaiba can't do anything.  His soul--it's gone too.  Everyone stops...amazingly, no one was seriously injured.  You'd think Pegasus would arrest us all--or rather _them_, I'm still locked out all by myself--but he needs Yugi here to take the Millennium Puzzle, which is only usable if won in a duel.  So it's over...but not for long.  Yugi and I are going to stop this evil madmen--or at least, I hope we are....

*end flashback*

"....did we....stop him....?"

"Of course we did!  You forgave me in the end, and I made a promise not to force you to do anything again.  I kind of broke it, though....sorry...."

Yugi smiled.  He had no clue what Yami was talking about, but it didn't really matter to him.  "That's okay....but....."

"But what?"

"....how did I...get _here_?"

"Like I said, I'm not sure...this happened way earlier, though, before we fought in the Shadow War and got captured by the Overlord and all..."

"....we fought...a war...?"

"Well, not a whole war--just the very end.  You helped beat the Shadow Master, though...Vice couldn't have done it without you."

"....why....were we...in a war...?"

"I don't understand the whole thing, but I know that we got pulled into Dark World because Benjamin was in danger of dying.  It didn't happen right away--after Duelist Kingdom, we went home and did some other stuff...we met a girl named Rebecca Hawkins who was annoying _and_ nuts...we met a guy named Duke Devlin, who was an idiot in my opinion...we saved Kaiba from these five creepy old men, and we didn't even get a decent thank-you...normal stuff, for you."

"...so....why did we....go to Dark World.....?"

"I told you, when Benjamin was in danger of dying his World somehow pulled us in to help him.  It wasn't a pretty sight, either..."

"....tell me....about it...?"

"Sure...it's not like I have any better ideas..."

*flashback*

            Whoa--what just happened?  Everything was normal one minute, and then the next....

The next, we were somewhere else entirely.

            The first thing I noticed was the darkness.  It wasn't dark like it was night--it was more like the constant twilight that comes when there's a storm or something.  I noticed the darkness...but I still wasn't really _there_.  Oh, I was with the others--strangely enough, all of Yugi's friends and Kaiba had been dragged here too, wherever here was--but I wasn't physically present like they were.  My mind was just in the background, taking it all in somewhat, but not really changing anything.  I'm like that a lot, I guess.  But anyway....

            Visibility was pretty bad, but there seemed to be something going on just ahead of us.  The little group conferred for a bit--I didn't really listen, it wasn't like they were talking to me--and then decided to go find some people and figure out where they were and how they had gotten there.  There were definitely people ahead...we could hear voices, and there were things like tents.  It looked almost like the encampment of an army...but how could that be?  This place didn't look familiar at all...how could we be here?

            We--or rather, they--are all walking ahead as quietly as they can, because even though we all want to know what happened, we don't know if these people are dangerous or not.  They're standing at the back of the nearest tent now...there are voices inside, but they aren't speaking English.  Someone's lit a lamp or something...there are shadows on the tent fabric from the people inside.  It looks like someone is standing over a table...there's something on it, but I certainly can't tell what.  Someone is coming over to speak to the person...now we can see them.....

!?

That shadow....it's....

It's not human.

            Everyone is surprised, they all gasp--whoever it is, they have _wings_.  Wings!  The person standing at the table looks up like he hears something.  Before anyone can move, he comes over and pulls up the tent's side.

            It's a weird-looking guy with pale skin, almost white in fact.  His hair is a mess....blond, and hanging down into his eyes.  He looks so tired....and so worried.  His eyes are something else--they're green, but not any shade I've ever seen.  They're  bright, almost luminous, and they're so...clear, I guess--it's hard to describe.  Inside the iris, there are streaks of silver...he looks at us like he's seen a ghost, or really he looks at Yugi--he barely even seems to notice everyone else.  He just collapsed into a chair at the table...all of us (or really all of _them_) come into the tent, since they know we're here now.  The guy stares at us a little longer, then sighs and gets up.

"Seto Kaiba, Joey Wheeler, Tristan Taylor, Tea Gardner...I am honored to meet you."

While everyone is still wondering how he knows their names, he turns to Yugi and bows.

"I am honored to meet you, Guardian...or should I say, _both_ of you."

Okay, that's ever weirder than him knowing everyone's names or calling Yugi Guardian--he knows about _me_!  But...how?  No one ever has, except people who know about the Millennium Items...and where are we?  He's stepping sideways now, to argue with the winged person--it's a lady who would look like an angel if she wasn't dressed like a gangster.  But no one is watching them now--they're all looking at what's on the table.

It's Benjamin--or what's left of him.

            I barely recognized him at first, he's so messed up--he looks more like a bloody corpse than the person we met at Duelist Kingdom.  He isn't conscious, and with good reason--he's covered with wounds.  Gashes on his shoulders and his arms, blood coming from his head, what looks like a fracture in his leg...what _happened_ to him?  And that isn't even the worst part....

He has a knife buried up to the hilt in his stomach.

            For a second, nobody moves or says anything.  They can't believe what they're seeing; Yugi and his friends have never seen anyone this badly injured before.  Neither have I, of course, but...it doesn't bother me for some reason.  I mean, I feel worried about Benjamin and all, but seeing a body like that isn't shocking to me....I kind of wish I knew why.

            The guy is coming back...he's pulling the knife out of Benjamin.  Now he's bandaging his wounds...I don't know if it'll help or not.  I don't know where we are or what happened, but...I have a feeling Yugi's going to help Benjamin, and I'll help too--it's my job.

*end flashback*

"Later, the guy--that's Vice--told us all about the Multiverse and taught you and your friends how to access your magic and stuff.  It took a little while, but the Shadow Master was defeated--he was the one who hurt Benjamin so badly.  Then, we all met Vice's sister, Riel--really pretty, but she swore like a trucker and killed people like it was a fad.  Really scary if you ask me, but family is family, I guess...I wouldn't know.  Anyway, we went looking for the Chaos Seal, but things went wrong...we all got captured, but your friends escaped, and they managed to get help from Vice and Riel--they hadn't come because Vice was injured."

"...can you....tell me....about that...?"

Yami looked away...that first encounter with the Chaos Army wasn't something he wanted to remember.

"....I could, but....I won't.  I can't....I'm sorry...."

"....oh....that's okay.....but...."

"But what?"

"...what happened next...?"

"Well, we went home after we rescued you--I helped too that time.  Benjamin came with us, because he said the Overlord would be back to harm you and he owed you a debt.  I think he just wanted to help you because you're his friend, but hey--maybe that's the only way he can say that, who knows?  Anyway, Chaos _did_ come back, and you got captured again.  Vice came and rescued us with Matt, but then Vice got captured instead.  We had to help him, of course--he's our friend."

"...so...what did we...do...?"

"We went to get a special Key--the Key of Aramas."

"....why....did we...go...?"  
"Well, when Vice got captured, we couldn't break him out, so he asked us to get the two halves of the Key.  He sent us to the Pokemon World with Matt, and your other friends to the Clanner World, although we didn't know about that until later.  Benjamin and his friends Rana and Miaka ended up helping us out, and so did a guy named Mike."

"....Mike...?"

"Yeah--pretty crazy way we met him, too...he sort of fell out of the sky, I guess you could say."

"Will you...tell me....this...?"  
"Sure.  See, we were walking along, heading to the next town...."

*flashback*

            I wonder how far it is to this next town...I'm pretty sure Benjamin doesn't know, and I _know_ Yugi has no clue.  We aren't lost, exactly--just...wandering.  After all, we need ten of these badge things, and we only have two--we need to find these gym places so we can earn more.  When I first heard them talking about gyms, all I could think of were those places where people--or at least corporeal people--sign up and never go to so they can feel like they're getting in shape.  Pretty pointless if you ask me, but how would I know?  Anyway, this place is nothing like that.  The gyms are places where these really skilled Pokemon trainers--that's people who teach these monsters to fight well--battle _other_ Pokemon trainers who want badges.  The badges prove that you won at a gym, which proves that you're really good at this whole Pokemon thing.

Of course, the system is pretty flawed if me and Yugi could get two of these things.

            Of all the places we could possibly have gone to get our half of the Key, this has to be one of the weirdest.  I mean, okay, so Duel Monsters uses monsters--it's still _nothing _compared to this.  Little creatures popping out everywhere, then you have to _catch_ them, then you have to take _care_ of them...pretty complicated.  Not that it matters to us--we're just passing through.

That's when things went...unexpectedly, to say the least.

BAM

            Whoa--some whack job falls from the sky and lands on top of Yugi?  Typical.  Hmm...Benjamin seems to know him.  And of course, this guy looks completely happy to see Benjamin--maybe they're friends?  Hard to picture, but who knows?  Nah...Benjamin looks kind of worried or something...and of course, our idiot skydiver here is completely clueless.  At least he got up...and he's got some sword there, and a shield too.  Now they're doing introductions...oh, wait, Benjamin _does_ know him...but of course he has no idea who Yugi is.  And of course he asks Benjamin, not Yugi.  Idiot...

"Why are you traveling around with this little kid?"

I have a feeling I'm not going to like this guy.

            Great.  Just great.  Now he wants to come with us?  Yeah, like Benjamin's really gonna go for that one.  Dream on, idiot....

"So?  What're we waiting for?"

            Come on--we really have to _travel_ with this guy?  But _why_?  We can do this by ourselves, we don't need his help...he probably has _no_ useful skills, he looks like a complete idiot, why does he have to come?  He _doesn't_ have to come...he _doesn't_.

All I can say is, if I end up killing him, it will _so_ not be my fault.

*end flashback*

"...he did end up helping us out, though, so I guess he wasn't _that_ bad."

"...so...you didn't....kill him...?"

"Of course I didn't--I wouldn't kill one of Benjamin's friends, even if I _still_ think he's an idiot."

"So....did we...get the Key...?"

"Of course we did!  The Chaos Oracle possessed the Mountain League Champion--he's the one who had the Key--and we had to Pokemon battle him.  It was a tough fight, but we beat him.  Well, you beat him really--even at the end, I couldn't help you...."

"...so we...rescued Vice...?"

"Well, kind of.  He didn't actually _need_ the Key to escape...he just thought we should get it, I guess.  We did get out alive, though.  And that's when all of this started."

"You mean....how I....got here....?"

"Exactly."

"So....what happened...?"

"Well, let me think...first you started having these dreams about dead people, but not like normal dreams--more like people were really talking to you or something.  Then after that..."

".....what....?"

"After that, you started spacing out a lot...and then you got injured somehow....and then....then, I came here.  I guess you did too..."

"...and....I came here....why........?"

"I'm not sure...but I think it was because you didn't believe that you were really yourself anymore."

This was meaningless to Yugi.  Actually, he didn't have memories of anything that Yami had recounted so far; he had only listened to it because he wanted to hear this person, who seemed oddly familiar, talk.

".....oh........."

"But--you believe _me_, right?  That you're really yourself?"

"....I...don't know....."

"But you're _you_!  Why don't you remember?"

"....I just....don't...."

Yami looked despairingly around the Realm of the Lost for inspiration.  He wasn't likely to find any; the Realm was as empty and blank as ever.  Yugi wasn't likely to remain within the Realm--or anywhere else--for much longer.  He had to think of something...there was something important he was missing--something he was supposed to remember...

*flashback*

_"I want you to promise me something...."_

_"Okay, what is it?"_

_"Promise me you'll never forget me....because if you forget me....then no one will remember....not even me.  So.....promise me...."_

_"....I promise."_

*end flashback*__

"...that's it!  I promised I would remember you!  _That's_ how I can make you remember who you are!"

Yugi looked up.  The idea that he was someone was very appealing, but...shouldn't he remember who?

Yami started pacing.  It seemed like that was the answer, but there was one problem--he had _already_ remembered who Yugi was, with no effect.  Why hadn't it worked?

"....you...really know...who I am...?"

"Of course I know who you are--how could I know everything about you and not know who you are?"

"....so....who am I....?"

"I don't kn--I mean, I'm not sure how to explain.  I remember you--I told you all that stuff that happened to you--why don't you remember too?"

"...I...guess I forgot....who I am.....if I...was someone..."

"You _were _someone, I just told y--wait...did you say forgot?"

"....yes...."

Yami was thinking hard.  Could there be a difference between remembering and not forgetting?  It meant the same thing, right?  Or....maybe it didn't!

"Remember...what does remember mean _exactly_?  Let me see...when you remember things, you think about things that have already happened...but that's not what remembering _is_, that's just what you do....when you remember things....when you remember things it means that you forgot something!  You didn't ask me to remember you, you asked me never to forget you in the first place!  _That's_ why it didn't work!  The things that _happened_ to you aren't who you are, but...I don't really know what _is_."

"...I thought....you said...you know...who I am...."

"Well--I _do_!  I know who you are--you're you."

"But....why...?"

            The Void had been listening only to snippets of the conversation, but he decided to step in at this point.

_Well?  Has the one remembered yet?_

"Uh...."

_Very well.  Come here,  my friend._

Yugi walked over to the Void.  Its colors swirled in a businesslike manner, and Yami was sure it would have cleared its throat if it had one.

_Now, stranger...prove to me that the one is who you say he is._

"We're doomed," Yami muttered to himself.  He still hadn't figured out how to make Yugi remember who he was (and believe it), and now he had to prove that he was telling the truth to a bizarre _thing_ in the middle of literally nowhere!  But Yami wasn't going to give up without a fight.  Even if it _was_ hopeless, it was worth trying one last time...

"Yugi, I know you don't remember who you are and I know you don't really have any reason to believe me, but I know you and you _are_ someone--really!"

Yugi looked at him levelly.

"....are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure!"  
".....really....?"

Yami was about to say that he was sure again, but stopped.  _Was_ he really sure that what he was saying was true?  He knew that Yugi was himself, but did he really know who that self was?  There was a long pause while he thought about this.

_Well, stranger?  You said that you remembered the one._

"....I don't."

Yugi and the Eye of the Void were extremely surprised to hear this.  Yami had been insisting all along the he _did_ remember Yugi, so having him suddenly deny it was in the Void's case strange and in Yugi's case very depressing, for reasons he couldn't remember.

"....what....?"

_What?_

"I said I don't remember Yugi....because I don't need to--why would I have forgotten him in the first place?"

            This finally changed Yugi's mind.  He still didn't remember who he was, but for some reason, he trusted this person, and if they were completely sure that they knew him, he believed them.

_Do you remember any of this, friend?_

"...no."

Yami's heart sank.  If Yugi still didn't know who he was, then he had failed.

"....I don't remember....but....I believe that it's true."

"Huh?"

"I said...I believe you."

_In that case...you really don't belong here.  You are someone else...someone not like us.  Go home then, my friend, and be happy....I will not forget you._

"You mean...you're not going to give Yugi back his memories?"

_I cannot return something I did not take.  The one did not _lose_ his memories...no matter how long you search, you will not find them.  Memories are always within...he must recall them on his own.  His memories are like mine...they are lost within ourselves._

            Yugi, meanwhile, was rapidly growing clearer.  As the Eye of the Void had said, his memories were still within him--he was simply unable to access them.  When he had decided that he did not exist, the part of his mind that held his memory and his sense of self had, in a sense, shut down; now that he once again firmly believed that he did exist and he was someone, it was like a darkness was lifted away from him...he remembered....everything Yami had said...that _had_ happened, he had been there!

"I _knew_ you would rescue me!"

Yami was surprised (and confused, as usual) that Yugi remembered who he was now, but didn't question it.  After all, he hadn't understood anything _else_ that happened while they were in the Realm of the Lost, so why this?

"Uh...I'm glad you remember who you are too, but...don't hug me, okay?"

            Ko smiled slightly at the travelers, both of whom were ready to depart.  He had lost his own identity, but not all hope, thanks to Yugi (and Yami, although he wouldn't admit that).

"Yugi...thank you."

"For what, Ko?"

"I was Lost even while I was within my own World...maybe I never really knew who I was.  But...now that I know that I don't know, there's a chance that I can find out.  For this, I am grateful.  Someday, when you are alone and in need of help, call me by my name and I will come to aid you.  This is my oath; I swear I shall fulfill it."

"...thank you."

"Hey, don't I get some credit?"

"...I guess so."

Yugi intervened before either Yami or Ko attacked the other.

"Well, see you round, Ko--me and Yami have to go home now.  People might think we disappeared or something if we don't."

"Goodbye, Yugi...I won't forget you."

            With that, the two visitors to the Realm returned to their own World.

*****

            Back in Yugi's World, numerous people were still completely confused about his disappearance.  They were even more confused when he walked through the hospital doors completely unharmed later that day.  They got no answers from the mysterious disappeared in question, however; Yugi would say nothing.  Since no one could find anything wrong with him, they let him go home, where his friends (with the possible exception of Vice) were equally surprised to see him.

"YUGI!?"

"What happened to you?"

"And...weren't you injured?"

Vice just smiled.  "I see everything worked out in the end.  Come on, Skye."

The falcon and the Darkling got up to leave.  Vice held up a hand.  "It was nice seeing you all again, but I'm afraid we have to go...there's a war to be fought, and Dark World cannot afford to lose."

The two Gated out.

"What do you think he meant by that, Yugi?"

Yugi shrugged.  "Who knows?  Right now, I'm just glad to be home."

Author's note: Yay, I finally finished Section 2!  And, as you probably noticed, the Chaos War _still_ isn't over.  ^___^;;;  A note about the flashbacks: yes, I am aware that the flashbacks which were based on scenes from the anime are very, very different than their original forms.  Obviously, this is because Benjamin showed up and stuff.  You may also have noticed that what happened in the flashback from S1 was slightly different than the original version of that too--that's because different people see the same scene different ways.  I'm going to put up the third section pretty soon (as soon as I actually write it, -__-'''), so keep an eye out for it!  ^___^  Now that that's over, I have some people to give a BIG thank-you to.

Matt--you read every single chapter, and you listened to me babble about the Lost, the Realm, and everything else for weeks on end while I was writing this, and you even helped me do edits.  Thank you for putting up with me, and of course for listening to me too!  I really couldn't have done it without you.

Kath--you also read this whole fanfic, and you were also forced to endure my disjointed ramblings for hours at a time.  You may not always have known what I was talking about, but you did listen.  Thank you for everything.

Chace--you risked discovery to read this, and you also understood it.  Thank you!!!

Serafinamoon--you read and reviewed every single chapter, and a thousand thank-yous aren't enough to tell you how grateful I am for that.

Mitsuko-chan --you also read the whole thing, and I'm very, very glad that you did.  Thank you!

Thank you to everyone who read this!  I couldn't have finished the whole thing without your support!  ^____^

~Subieko


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